Family Characteristics and School Achievements of Type A Children

We examined the familial characteristics of Type A children and the consequences of Type A behaviors for children's classroom achievements. A maximum of 156 boys and 190 girls enrolled in elementary and middle schools and their parents participated in various aspects of the data collection procedures and analyses reported in this article. Results showed that Type A children were not more likely to have families with a history of cardiovascular-related diseases or families of upper socioeconomic status. Young Type A boys, but not girls, had Type A mothers and fathers, suggesting an early modeling of Type A behaviors by boys. Competitive boys and girls and Type A girls had higher achievement test scores and classroom grades, independent of IQ test scores, than did relatively noncompetitive children and Type B girls, respectively. Thus, the competitive aspect of Type A leads to important early achievements, independent of ability, perhaps because care givers and teachers respond to Type A behaviors of children by encouraging them to continue to strive to achieve. Gender differences in the findings were also discussed and related to the adult literature.