Temperament differences between institution- and family-reared toddlers

•Amount of time spent at the institution environment predicts Negative affectivity levels in toddlers.•Institution-reared group shows less Surgency/extraversion and higher Negative affectivity compared with family-reared group.•No difference in Effortful control was found between institution- and family-reared toddlers.•Possibly, the age relevant development of Effortful control pursues if an intervention is provided to the institutionalized group.