Anger and Positive Reactivity in Infancy: Effects on Maternal Report of Surgency and Attention Focusing in Early Childhood.

We examined two aspects of temperamental approach in early infancy, positive reactivity and anger, and their unique and combined influences on maternal reports of child surgency and attention focusing at 4 years of age. One hundred and fourteen infants were observed for their positive reactions to novel stimuli at 4 months, and their anger expressions during arm restraint at 9 months. Child surgency and attention focusing at age 4 years were assessed by maternal report. Infants who expressed more anger to restraint were rated higher in surgency during early childhood relative to infants who expressed less anger. The effects of positive reactivity to novelty on attention focusing were moderated by anger to restraint. These findings suggest that infant temperamental approach tendencies are multifaceted and have both unique and combined influences on later maternal report of attention and social behavior.

The Relations between Infant Negative Reactivity, Non-Maternal Childcare, and Children's Interactions with Familiar and Unfamiliar Peers.

The present study examined the influence of children's experiences during non-maternal childcare on their behavior towards unfamiliar peers. Participants included children classified as negatively reactive at 4 months of age (n = 52) and children not negatively reactive (n = 61), who were further divided into those who experienced non-maternal care and those who did not. Children were observed during childcare at 24 months of age and in the laboratory with an unfamiliar peer at 24 and 36 months of age, where their wariness, dysregulation and social engagement were assessed. Within the negatively reactive childcare group, children's positive interactions with peers during childcare at 24 months predicted lower levels of wariness towards an unfamiliar peer at 36 months. This relation was not significant for children not classified as negatively reactive. The findings suggest that the influence of non-maternal childcare is dependent on a child's temperament and the nature of peer interactions during care.

Anger and Approach Motivation in Infancy: Relations to Early Childhood Inhibitory Control and Behavior Problems.

The relations among infant anger reactivity, approach behavior, and frontal EEG asymmetry, and their relations to inhibitory control and behavior problems in early childhood were examined within the context of a longitudinal study of temperament. Two hundred and nine infants' anger expressions to arm restraint were observed at 4 months of age. Infants' approach behaviors during play with an unpredictable toy and baseline frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry were assessed at 9 months of age. Inhibitory control during a Go/No-Go task and parent-report of behavior problems were evaluated at 4 years of age. High anger-prone infants with left, but not right, frontal EEG asymmetry showed significantly more approach behaviors and less inhibitory control relative to less anger-prone infants. Although a link between anger proneness in infancy and behavior problems in early childhood was not found, a combination of low approach behaviors and poor inhibitory control was predictive of internalizing behaviors.

Stable early maternal report of behavioral inhibition predicts lifetime social anxiety disorder in adolescence.

OBJECTIVE: Behavioral inhibition (BI), a temperamental style identifiable in early childhood, is considered a risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders, particularly social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, few studies examining this question have evaluated the stability of BI across multiple developmental time points and followed participants into adolescence-the developmental period during which risk for SAD onset is at its peak. The current study used a prospective longitudinal design to determine whether stable early BI predicted the presence of psychiatric disorders and continuous levels of social anxiety in adolescents. It was hypothesized that stable BI would predict the presence of adolescent psychiatric diagnoses, specifically SAD. METHOD: Participants included 126 adolescents aged 14 to 16 years who were first recruited at 4 months of age from hospital birth records. Temperament was measured at multiple time points between the ages of 14 months and 7 years. In adolescence, diagnostic interviews were conducted with parents and adolescents, and continuous measures of adolescent- and parent-reported social anxiety were collected. RESULTS: Stable maternal-reported early BI was associated with 3.79 times increased odds of a lifetime SAD diagnosis, but not other diagnoses, during adolescence (95% confidence interval 1.18-12.12). Stable maternal-reported early BI also predicted independent adolescent and parent ratings of ongoing social anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggesting that stable maternal-reported early BI predicts lifetime SAD have important implications for the early identification and prevention of SAD.

Predicting Social Wariness in Middle Childhood: The Moderating Roles of Child Care History, Maternal Personality and Maternal Behavior.

Children with behavioral inhibition, a temperamental style characterized by infant distress to novelty and childhood social reticence, exhibit both continuity and discontinuity of this behavioral trait over the course of development. However, few researchers have identified factors that might be responsible for these different patterns. In the current study, child care history, maternal personality and maternal behavior were examined as moderators of the relations between infant temperament, preschool social reticence and childhood social wariness. Seventy-seven children participated in this longitudinal study that began in infancy and continued into middle childhood. Maternal negative personality moderated the relation between infant temperament and 7-year social wariness. In addition, maternal behavior moderated the relation between preschool social reticence and 7-year social wariness. The findings suggest that a complex interplay of within-child and maternal factors affect the development of internalizing behavior in the early school years.

Behavioral inhibition and anxiety disorders: multiple levels of a resilience process.

Behavioral inhibition is reported to be one of the most stable temperamental characteristics in childhood. However, there is also evidence for discontinuity of this trait, with infants and toddlers who were extremely inhibited displaying less withdrawn social behavior as school-age children or adolescents. There are many possible explanations for the discontinuity in this temperament over time. They include the development of adaptive attention and regulatory skills, the influence of particular styles of parenting or caregiving contexts, and individual characteristics of the child such as their level of approach-withdrawal motivation or their gender. These discontinuous trajectories of behaviorally inhibited children and the factors that form them are discussed as examples of the resilience process.