Children's olfactory performance is associated with temperament but whether there is a link with olfactory reactivity and awareness is not known. In adults negative affectivity is linked to reactivity to environmental odours but it is not clear whether these associations extend to children. We aimed to investigate the effect of temperamental factors on olfactory reactivity and awareness. In so doing, we controlled for the effect of parenting styles on temperamental assessment and of verbal fluency on children's olfactory reactivity and awareness. We hypothesised that children with a high degree of negative affectivity would show greater olfactory reactivity and awareness. 129 children (62 boys, mean age 6.83 ± 0.40 years) were interviewed about their olfactory reactivity and awareness in everyday life using the established Children's Olfactory Behavior in Everyday Life questionnaire (COBEL). Parents assessed their child's temperament using the 94-item short form of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire. We found that the relationship between negative affectivity and total COBEL scores varied between the genders: there was a positive, medium to large effect in boys and a negative, small one in girls. Future studies could include behavioural observations of temperament and olfactory reactivity and awareness.

Department of Anthropology Faculty of Humanities Charles University U Kříže 8 Prague 5 Jinonice 15800 Czech Republic

National Institute of Mental Health Topolová 748 25067 Klecany Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Hummel T, Kobal G, Gudziol H, Mackay-Sim A. Normative data for the “Sniffin’ Sticks” including tests of odor identification, odor discrimination, and olfactory thresholds: an upgrade based on a group of more than 3,000 subjects. Eur. Arch. Otorhinolaryngol. 2007;264:237–243. doi: 10.1007/s00405-006-0173-0. PubMed DOI

Smeets MAM, Schifferstein HNJ, Boelema SR, Lensvelt-Mulders G. The Odor Awareness Scale: A new scale for measuring positive and negative odor awareness. Chem. Senses. 2008;33:725–734. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjn038. PubMed DOI

Dematte ML, et al. Individual variability in the awareness of odors: Demographic parameters and odor identification ability. Chemosensory Perception. 2011;4:175–185. doi: 10.1007/s12078-011-9103-7. DOI

Saxton TK, et al. Sex differences in olfactory behavior in Namibian and Czech children. Chemosensory Perception. 2014;7:117–125. doi: 10.1007/s12078-014-9172-5. DOI

Ferdenzi C, Coureaud G, Camos V, Schaal B. Human awareness and uses of odor cues in everyday life: Results from a questionnaire study in children. International Journal of Behavioral Development. 2008;32:422–431. doi: 10.1177/0165025408093661. DOI

Martinec Nováková L, Vojtušová Mrzílková R. Children’s exposure to odors in everyday contexts predicts their odor awareness. Chemosensory Perception. 2016;9:56–68. doi: 10.1007/s12078-016-9205-3. DOI

Ferdenzi C, Mustonen S, Tuorila H, Schaal B. Children’s awareness and uses of odor cues in everyday life: A Finland-France comparison. Chemosensory Perception. 2008;1:190–198. doi: 10.1007/s12078-008-9020-6. DOI

Nováková L, Valentova JV, Havlíček J. Olfactory performance is predicted by individual sex-atypicality, but not sexual orientation. PLoS ONE. 2013;8 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080234. PubMed DOI PMC

Nováková L, Valentova JV, Havlíček J. Engagement in olfaction-related activities is associated with the ability of odor identification and odor awareness. Chemosensory Perception. 2014;7:56–67. doi: 10.1007/s12078-014-9167-2. DOI

Buron E, Bulbena A, Pailhez G, Cabre AB. The Spanish version of two olfactory scales: Reliability and validity. Revista De Psiquiatria Y Salud Mental. 2011;4:187–194. doi: 10.1016/j.rpsm.2011.07.006. PubMed DOI

Martinec Nováková L, Vojtušová Mrzílková R. Temperamental influences on children’s olfactory performance: The role of self-regulation. Chemosensory Perception. 2016;9:153–173. doi: 10.1007/s12078-016-9216-0. DOI

Zald DH, Pardo JV. Functional neuroimaging of the olfactory system in humans. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 2000;36:165–181. doi: 10.1016/S0167-8760(99)00110-5. PubMed DOI

Phelps EA, LeDoux JE. Contributions of the amygdala to emotion processing: From animal models to human behavior. Neuron. 2005;48:175–187. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2005.09.025. PubMed DOI

Bremner JD. Brain imaging in anxiety disorders. Expert Rev. Neurother. 2004;4:275–284. doi: 10.1586/14737175.4.2.275. PubMed DOI

Smeets MAM, Dalton PH. Evaluating the human response to chemicals: odor, irritation and non-sensory factors. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology. 2005;19:581–588. doi: 10.1016/j.etap.2004.12.023. PubMed DOI

Ihrig A, Hoffmann J, Triebig G. Examination of the influence of personal traits and habituation on the reporting of complaints at experimental exposure to ammonia. Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health. 2006;79:332–338. doi: 10.1007/s00420-005-0042-y. PubMed DOI

Cornell Kärnekull S, Jonsson FU, Larsson M, Olofsson JK. Affected by smells? Environmental chemical responsivity predicts odor perception. Chem. Senses. 2011;36:641–648. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjr028. PubMed DOI

Buron E, Bulbena A, Barrada JR, Pailhez G. EROL scale: A new behavioural olfactory measure and its relationship with anxiety and depression symptoms. Actas Esp. Psiquiatr. 2013;41:2–9. PubMed

Seo, H.-S., Lee, S. & Cho, S. Relationships between personality traits and attitudes toward the sense of smell. Front. Psychol. 4, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00901 (2013). PubMed PMC

Qin SZ, et al. Amygdala subregional structure and intrinsic functional connectivity predicts individual differences in anxiety during early childhood. Biol. Psychiatry. 2014;75:892–900. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.10.006. PubMed DOI PMC

Grist CL, McCord DM. Individual differences in preschool children: Temperament or personality? Infant and Child Development. 2010;19:264–274.

Halverson, C. F., Kohnstamm, G. A. & Martin, R. P. The developing structure of temperament and personality from infancy to adulthood. (Psychology Press, 2014).

Costa, P. & McCrae, R. Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Professional Manual. (Psychological Assesment Ressources, Odessa, FL, 1992).

Rothbart, M. K. & Posner, M. I. In Developmental psychopathology. Volume two: Developmental neuroscience Vol. 2 (eds D., Cicchetti & D. J., Cohen) Ch. 11, 465–501 (John Wiley & Sons, 2006).

Ahadi, S. A. & Rothbart, M. K. In The developing structure of temperament and personality from infancy to adulthood (eds C. F., Halverson Jr., G. A., Kohnstamm & R. P., Martin) 189–208 (Psychology Press, 2014).

Ferguson CJ. An Effect Size Primer: A Guide for Clinicians and Researchers. Professional Psychology-Research and Practice. 2009;40:532–538. doi: 10.1037/a0015808. DOI

Cohen, J. E. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1988).

Cumming G. The New Statistics: Why and How. Psychol. Sci. 2014;25:7–29. doi: 10.1177/0956797613504966. PubMed DOI

Dalton, P. In Olfactory cognition (eds G. M., Zucco, R. S., Herz & B., Schaal) Ch. 2, 23–38 (John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2012).

Dalton P. Upper airway irritation, odor perception and health risk due to airborne chemicals. Toxicol. Lett. 2003;140:239–248. doi: 10.1016/S0378-4274(02)00510-6. PubMed DOI

Dalton P. Odor, irritation and perception of health risk. Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health. 2002;75:283–290. doi: 10.1007/s00420-002-0312-x. PubMed DOI

Dalton P, Hummel T. Chemosensory function and response in idiopathic environmental intolerance. Occupational Medicine-State of the Art Reviews. 2000;15:539–556. PubMed

Havlíček J, et al. Olfactory perception is positively linked to anxiety in young adults. Perception. 2012;41:1246–1261. doi: 10.1068/p7244. PubMed DOI

Chen D, Dalton P. The effect of emotion and personality on olfactory perception. Chem. Senses. 2005;30:345–351. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bji029. PubMed DOI

Leach F. Researching gender violence in schools: Methodological and ethical considerations. World Development. 2006;34:1129–1147. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.11.008. DOI

Soussignan R, Schaal B. Children’s facial responsiveness to odors: Influences of hedonic valence of odor, gender, age, and social presence. Dev. Psychol. 1996;32:367–379. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.32.2.367. DOI

Walker S, Irving K, Berthelsen D. Gender influences on preschool children’s social problem-solving strategies. J. Genet. Psychol. 2002;163:197–209. doi: 10.1080/00221320209598677. PubMed DOI

Monnery-Patris S, Rouby C, Nicklaus S, Issanchou S. Development of olfactory ability in children: sensitivity and identification. Dev. Psychobiol. 2009;51:268–276. doi: 10.1002/dev.20363. PubMed DOI

Choudhury ES, Moberg P, Doty RL. Influences of age and sex on a microencapsulated odor memory test. Chem. Senses. 2003;28:799–805. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjg072. PubMed DOI

Putnam, S. P., Sanson, N. V. & Rothbart, M. K. In Handbook of parenting. Volume 1: Children and parenting Vol. 1 (ed M. H., Bornstein) Ch. 9, 255 (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002).

Brocki KC, Bohlin G. Executive functions in children aged 6 to 13: A dimensional and developmental study. Developmental Neuropsychology. 2004;26:571–593. doi: 10.1207/s15326942dn2602_3. PubMed DOI

Rothbart, M. K. & Bates, J. E. In Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3, Social, emotional, and personality development Vol. 6 (eds N., Eisenberg, W., Damon & R. M., Lerner) 99–166 (Wiley, 2006).

Barnhart CM, Raval VV, Jansari A, Raval PH. Perceptions of Parenting Style Among College Students in India and the United States. Journal of Child and Family Studies. 2013;22:684–693. doi: 10.1007/s10826-012-9621-1. DOI

Putnam SP, Rothbart MK. Development of short and very short forms of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment. 2006;87:102–112. doi: 10.1207/s15327752jpa8701_09. PubMed DOI

Durbin CE, Hayden EP, Klein DN, Olino TM. Stability of laboratory-assessed temperamental emotionality traits from ages 3 to 7. Emotion. 2007;7:388–399. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.388. PubMed DOI

Shoda Y, Mischel W, Peake PK. Predicting adolescent cognitive and self-regulatory competencies from preschool delay of gratification: Identifying diagnostic conditions. Dev. Psychol. 1990;26:978–986. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.26.6.978. DOI

Caspi A, Silva PA. Temperamental qualities at age three predict personality traits in young adulthood: Longitudinal evidence from a birth cohort. Child Dev. 1995;66:486–498. doi: 10.2307/1131592. PubMed DOI

Kochanska G, Murray K, Jacques TY, Koenig AL, Vandegeest KA. Inhibitory control in young children and its role in emerging internalization. Child Dev. 1996;67:490–507. doi: 10.2307/1131828. PubMed DOI

Schaughency EA, Fagot BI. The prediction of adjustment at age 7 from activity level at age 5. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 1993;21:29–50. doi: 10.1007/BF00910487. PubMed DOI

Capaldi DM, Rothbart MK. Development and validation of an early adolescent temperament measure. The Journal of Early Adolescence. 1992;12:153–173. doi: 10.1177/0272431692012002002. DOI

Rothbart MK, Ahadi SA, Hershey KL, Fisher P. Investigations of temperament at three to seven years: The children’s behavior questionnaire. Child Dev. 2001;72:1394–1408. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00355. PubMed DOI

Rothbart MK, Ahadi SA, Hershey KL. Temperament and social behavior in childhood. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly-Journal of Developmental Psychology. 1994;40:21–39.

Baumrind D. Current patterns of parental authority. Dev. Psychol. 1971;4:1–103. doi: 10.1037/h0030372. DOI

Darling N, Steinberg L. Parenting style as context: An integrative model. Psychol. Bull. 1993;113:487–496. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.113.3.487. DOI

Bettmann JE, Lundahl BW. Tell me a story: A review of narrative assessments for preschoolers. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. 2007;24:455–475. doi: 10.1007/s10560-007-0095-8. DOI

Preiss M. Verbální fluence, metoda vyšetření poškození mozku u dětí a dospělých. Ceskoslovenska Psychologie. 1997;41:244–249.

Rosenthal, R. Meta-analytical procedures for social research. (Sage, 1991).

Rosenthal, R. In The handbook of research synthesis (eds H. Cooper & L. V. Hedges) 231–244 (Sage, 1994).

Walker DA. JMASM9: converting Kendall’s tau for correlational or meta-analytic analyses. Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods. 2003;2:525–530. doi: 10.22237/jmasm/1067646360. DOI

IBM. (SPSS Inc., Chicago, 2013).

IBM Corp. (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, 2011).

Field, A. Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. 4th edition edn, (Sage, 2013).

Horse odor exploration behavior is influenced by pregnancy and age

Effects of diversity in olfactory environment on children's sense of smell