The Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS) is funded and managed by the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ). It is the first large-scale prospective longitudinal study of children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) in Australia. Information on safety, permanency and wellbeing is being collected from various sources. The child developmental domains of interest are physical health, socio-emotional wellbeing and cognitive/learning ability. The overall aim of this study is to collect detailed information about the life course development of children who enter OOHC for the first time and the factors that influence their development.

This study examines the association between a child’s temperament and a child’s socio-emotional wellbeing for children in Out-of-Home Care (OOHC). This study can be considered a first step in examining the usefulness of using a child’s temperament to identify children who may later develop issues and to tailor interventions to address their needs. Temperament is defined as behavioural styles that are typical to a child and that are usually present from birth. This research examined three different dimensions of temperament:

1. Sociability: tendency to be shy or outgoing in new situations and when meeting new people
2. Reactivity: strength of emotional reactions to positive and negative experience
3. Persistence: capacity to maintain attention, despite distractions.