Institute for Health Research, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Academy of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania.
BMC Pediatr. 2012 Apr 11;12:44. doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-12-44.
Problems experienced within the first year of an infant's life can be precursors of later mental health conditions. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency and continuity of difficult behaviors in infants at 3 and 6 months of age and the associations of these difficulties with biomedical and psychosocial factors.
This study was a part of an ongoing prospective birth-cohort study. Study participants were 189 uniparous mothers and their full-term newborns. The index of infant difficult behavior was constructed. This index was then associated with the following factors: delivery mode, newborn function after birth, maternal emotional well-being, risk behavior, subjective evaluation of the quality of the relationship of the couple, and attitudes toward infant-rearing.
Common difficult behaviors, including crying, sleeping and eating problems, were characteristic for 30.2% of 3 month old and for 22.2% of 6 month old full-term infants. The expression of infant difficult behaviors at the age of 3 months increased the likelihood of the expression of these difficulties at 6 months by more than 5 times. Factors including younger maternal age, poor prenatal and postnatal emotional well-being, prenatal alcohol consumption, low satisfaction with the couple's relationship before pregnancy, and deficiency of infant-centered maternal attitudes towards infant-rearing increased the likelihood of difficult behaviors in infants at the age of 3 months. Low maternal satisfaction with the relationship of the couple before pregnancy, negative emotional reactions of both parents toward pregnancy (as reported by the mother) and the deficiency of an infant-centered maternal attitude towards infant-rearing increased the likelihood of infant difficult behaviors continuing between the ages of 3 to 6 months. Perinatal biomedical conditions were not related to the difficult behaviors in infants.
Our study suggests that early onset of difficult behavior highly increases the risk for the continuation of difficult behavior during infancy. In general, the impact of prenatal psychosocial environment on infant behavior decreases from the ages of 3 to 6 months; however, some prenatal and preconceptional psychosocial factors have direct associations with the continuity of difficult behaviors through the first half-year of an infant's life.
婴儿生命的头一年中所经历的问题可能是日后心理健康状况的先兆。本研究的目的是检验婴儿在 3 个月和 6 个月时出现困难行为的频率和连续性，以及这些困难与生物医学和社会心理因素的关联。
本研究是一项正在进行的前瞻性出生队列研究的一部分。研究对象为 189 名单胎母亲及其足月新生儿。婴儿困难行为指数是构建的。该指数与以下因素相关：分娩方式、新生儿出生后功能、产妇情绪健康、危险行为、夫妻关系质量的主观评价以及育儿态度。
3 个月大的婴儿中，有 30.2%和 6 个月大的婴儿中有 22.2%表现出常见的困难行为，包括哭闹、睡眠和进食问题。3 个月大时婴儿出现困难行为的表现增加了 6 个月大时出现这些困难的可能性超过 5 倍。包括母亲年龄较小、产前和产后情绪健康状况较差、产前饮酒、怀孕前对夫妻关系满意度较低、以婴儿为中心的育儿态度不足等因素，增加了 3 个月大婴儿出现困难行为的可能性。怀孕前母亲对夫妻关系满意度较低、父母双方对怀孕的负面情绪反应（由母亲报告）以及以婴儿为中心的育儿态度不足，增加了 3 至 6 个月期间婴儿困难行为持续的可能性。围产期生物医学状况与婴儿的困难行为无关。
我们的研究表明，困难行为的早期发作极大地增加了婴儿期困难行为持续的风险。一般来说，产前社会心理环境对婴儿行为的影响从 3 个月到 6 个月逐渐减弱；然而，一些产前和孕前的社会心理因素通过婴儿生命的前半年与困难行为的连续性直接相关。
