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Different stability of social-communication problems and negative demanding behaviour from infancy to toddlerhood in
Esmé Möricke1, Ga Martijn Lappenschaar1, Sophie Hn Swinkels1
1Department of Psychiatry, Nijmegen Centre for Evidence-Based Practice, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Insights
Most infant behavioral issues resolve by toddlerhood, but communication problems often persist. Negative behaviors are more likely to be transient than social-communicative challenges.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Psychiatry
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Limited understanding of behavioral and developmental problem stability from infancy to toddlerhood in the general population.
- Early childhood is a critical period for development, with potential for both persistence and resolution of behavioral issues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the stability of behavioral and developmental profiles from infancy to toddlerhood.
- To determine whether specific behavioral patterns are consistent over this developmental period.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 4,237 children using parent-completed questionnaires at 14-15 and 36-37 months.
- Assessment of externalizing, internalizing, and social-communicative behaviors.
- Application of factor mixture modeling to identify behavioral profiles.
Main Results:
- Over 85% of infants with typical or mild problems showed normal behavior as toddlers.
- Moderate communication problems often resolved by toddlerhood.
- Severe problems in infancy persisted into toddlerhood; negative/demanding behaviors were more transient than communication/interaction problems.
Conclusions:
- Negative and demanding behaviors are often transient and less predictive of toddlerhood problems.
- Communication and interaction problems exhibit greater homotypic continuity, indicating greater persistence from infancy to toddlerhood.
Background:
Little is known about the stability of behavioural and developmental problems as children develop from infants to toddlers in the general population. Therefore, we investigated behavioural profiles at two time points and determined whether behaviours are stable during early development.
Methods:
Parents of 4,237 children completed questionnaires with 62 items about externalizing, internalizing, and social-communicative behaviour when the children were 14-15 and 36-37 months old. Factor mixture modelling identified five homogeneous profiles at both time points: three with relatively normal behaviour or with mild/moderate problems, one with clear communication and interaction problems, and another with pronounced negative and demanding behaviour.
Results:
More than 85% of infants with normal behaviour or mild problems at 14-15 months were reported to behave relatively typically as toddlers at 36-37 months. A similar percentage of infants with moderate communication problems outgrew their problems by the time they were toddlers. However, infants with severe problems had mild to severe problems as toddlers, and did not show completely normal behaviour. Improvement over time occurred more often in children with negative and demanding behaviour than in children with communication and interaction problems. The former showed less homotypic continuity than the latter.
Conclusions:
Negative and demanding behaviour is more often transient and a less specific predictor of problems in toddlerhood than communication and interaction problems.
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