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Natural history and predictive significance of head-banging, head-rolling and breath-holding spells
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
|October 1, 1984
Insights
Children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Breath-holding spells and head-banging are common in early childhood.
- Long-term behavioral effects of these childhood symptoms are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the long-term behavioral outcomes of head-banging and breath-holding spells in children.
- To determine if these childhood symptoms predict later behavioral or developmental issues.
Main Methods:
- A five-year follow-up study was conducted on children previously identified with head-banging or breath-holding spells at age three.
- Behavioral and developmental assessments were performed at follow-up.
Main Results:
- None of the children studied continued to experience breath-holding spells at follow-up.
- A small number of children with a history of head-banging still exhibited the symptom.
- Children with a history of head-banging showed increased restlessness and emotional instability compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- Breath-holding spells typically resolve by school age.
- A history of head-banging may be associated with later behavioral difficulties, specifically restlessness and emotional instability.
- Further research is needed to understand the link between head-banging and later behavioral problems.
Abstract:
A five-year follow-up study of children who had had spells of head-banging or breath-holding at three years was carried out to see whether these symptoms have any behavioural sequelae. Of 36 children with breath-holding spells at three years, none still had them. 34 children had had spells of head-banging, and three still had the symptom at follow-up. The children with a history of head-banging were more restless and emotionally unstable at follow-up, but there was no significant difference between the index groups and their controls in other problems of behaviour or development.