Neonatal Negative Emotionality Predicts Childhood Psychopathology

Many parents have had the experience of raising a baby that gets upset easily, remains upset for a long time, and is hard to soothe. Researchers call the temperament of such a child “difficult”. Although the child may outgrow the fussiness in a few months, there is research indicating the child has emotional problems throughout his or her life. Our research concerns the emotional and behavioral outcome of fussy infants. The infants in the study were rated as having a difficult temperament at four weeks of age. Parents provided information regarding emotional or behavioral problems when the children were 8-11 years of age. Results indicate infant temperament is associated with childhood emotional and behavioral problems. These results suggest the possibility of screening infants for early difficult temperament that place them at risk for later emotional and behavioral problems, allowing for better prevention efforts.