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The link between infant regulatory problems, temperament traits, maternal depressive symptoms and children's
Anna Sidor1, Cristina Fischer1, Manfred Cierpka1
1Institute for Psychosocial Prevention, University Clinic Heidelberg, Bergheimerstr. 54, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany.
Insights
Infant regulatory problems and difficult temperament significantly predict behavioral issues in at-risk children by age three. Temperament plays a key role, mediating the link between early regulation and later externalizing and internalizing problems.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Childhood adversities can impede development, with family, child, and maternal factors influencing later behavior.
- Early regulatory problems in infants may predict future behavioral challenges.
- Maternal distress and depressive symptoms can moderate these developmental pathways.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between regulatory problems in 6-month-old infants and behavioral issues at 36 months.
- To examine the role of temperamental traits in this relationship.
- To test the moderating effects of maternal distress and depressive symptoms.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal, quasi-experimental study of 185 at-risk mother-infant dyads.
- Infant regulatory problems assessed at 6 months using the SFS.
- Child behavioral problems (CBCL), temperament (EAS), maternal depressive symptoms (ADS), and maternal stress (PSI-SF) assessed at 3 years.
Main Results:
- Infant regulatory problems at 6 months significantly predicted externalizing (16% variance) and internalizing problems (14% variance) at 3 years.
- Maternal depressive symptoms, child temperamental difficulty, and negative emotionality also significantly predicted behavioral problems.
- Temperamental traits substantially mediated the relationship between early regulatory problems and later behavioral issues.
Conclusions:
- Temperament is crucial in the development of behavioral problems, mediating the impact of early regulatory difficulties.
- Difficult temperament and negative emotionality in children are significant predictors of externalizing and internalizing problems in high-risk samples.
- The findings support the primary influence of child temperament and maternal depressive symptoms over a diathesis-stress model.
Background:
Difficult conditions during childhood can limit an individual's development in many ways. Factors such as being raised in an at-risk family, child temperamental traits or maternal traits can potentially influence a child's later behaviour. The present study investigated the extent of regulatory problems in 6-month-old infants and their link to temperamental traits and impact on externalizing and internalizing problems at 36 months. Moderating effects of maternal distress and maternal depressive symptoms were tested as well.
Methods:
In a quasi-experimental, longitudinal study, a sample of 185 mother-infant dyads at psychosocial risk was investigated at 6 months with SFS (infants' regulatory problems) and at 3 years with CBCL (children's behavioural problems), EAS (children's temperament), ADS (maternal depressive symptoms) and PSI-SF (maternal stress).
Results:
A hierarchical regression analysis yielded a significant association between infants' regulatory problems and both externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems at age 3 (accounting for 16% and 14% variance), with both externalizing and internalizing problems being linked to current maternal depressive symptoms (12 and 9% of the variance). Externalizing and internalizing problems were found to be related also to children's temperamental difficulty (18 and 13% of variance) and their negative emotionality. With temperamental traits having been taken into account, only feeding problems at 6 months contributed near-significant to internalizing problems at 3 years.
Conclusions:
Our results underscore the crucial role of temperament in the path between early regulatory problems and subsequent behavioural difficulties. Children's unfavourable temperamental predispositions such as negative emotionality and generally "difficult temperament" contributed substantially to both externalizing and internalizing behavioural problems in the high-risk sample. The decreased predictive power of regulatory problems following the inclusion of temperamental variables indicates a mediation effect of temperamental traits in the path between early regulatory problems and subsequent behavioural problems. Our results support the main effects of a child's temperament, and to some degree maternal depressive symptoms, rather than the diathesis stress model of interaction between risky environment and temperamental traits. Trial registration D10025651 (NZFH).
