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Infantile colic. Follow-up at four years of age: still more "emotional"
C Canivet1, I Jakobsson, B Hagander
1Department of Community Medicine, Lund University, Sweden. Catarina.Canivet@smi.mas.lu.se
Insights
Former colic infants showed more negative emotions and stomachaches at age 4. This suggests a potential temperamental link to infantile colic, impacting child behavior and family dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Health
Background:
- Infantile colic is a common condition in infants.
- Long-term effects of infantile colic on child development are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate long-term outcomes in children with a history of infantile colic.
- To investigate behavioral, emotional, and health differences between formerly colicky children and controls at age 4.
Main Methods:
- Follow-up study comparing children with a history of infantile colic to a control group at 4 years of age.
- Assessment of behavior, temperament, eating/sleeping habits, psychosomatic complaints, hospitalizations, growth, and family environment.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were found between groups in most parameters.
- Formerly colicky children exhibited more negative emotions and reported more stomachaches.
- Negative moods during meals were also more prevalent in the ex-colicky group.
Conclusions:
- Infantile colic may have a temperamental contribution to its pathogenesis.
- Early childhood temperament might influence long-term emotional and physical well-being.
- Further research is needed to clarify the complex relationship between colic, temperament, and mother-infant interaction.
Abstract:
This paper presents a follow-up at 4 y of formerly colicky infants and controls, with respect to behaviour, temperament, eating and sleeping habits, psychosomatic complaints, number of hospital stays, growth and "family climate". There were no differences between the two groups in most parameters studied. However, ex-colicky children displayed more negative emotions according to the temperament scale. There were also more negative moods during meals, and more reported stomach-ache. Although relationships regarding crying and mother-infant interaction remain extremely complex, the findings point toward a possible temperamental contribution to the pathogenesis of the infantile colic syndrome.