Observational studyEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2017
Excessive infant crying doubles the risk of mood and behavioral problems at age 5: evidence for mediation by maternal characteristics.
Observational study in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Early Irritability as a Transdiagnostic Neurodevelopmental Vulnerability to Later Mental Health Problems.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Research Review: A systematic review and meta-analysis of infant and toddler temperament as predictors of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2023Pooled it
- Parental perceptions and experiences of infant crying: A systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research.Journal of advanced nursing · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of a Mobile-Based Intervention for Parents of Children With Crying, Sleeping, and Feeding Problems: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Trial
- Infant Regulatory Problems and Subsequent Behavioral Difficulties: The Mediating Role of Parenting Stress.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Genetic and environmental influences on sleep quality, ability to settle, and crying duration in 2- and 5-month-old infants: A longitudinal twin study.JCPP advances · 2026Article
- Risk factors and long-term outcomes of infantile colic: A nationwide population-based study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Parenting stress and pandemic burden in families with crying, sleeping, and feeding problems during COVID-19: a case-control study.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Article
- Regulatory problems and developmental psychopathology within the first 2 years of living-a nested in cohort population-based study.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Helping parents to cope with infant regulatory disorders.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2024Review
- Maternal perceived stress and infant behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- Associations of crying, sleeping, and feeding problems in early childhood and perceived social support with emotional disorders in adulthood.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Association of self-reported mother-infant relationship with child and adolescent mental health.BJPsych open · 2023Article
- Infantile Colic and Long-Term Outcomes in Childhood: A Narrative Synthesis of the Evidence.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Follow-up of infants with colic into childhood: Do they develop behavioural problems?Journal of paediatrics and child health · 2022Article
- Infant colic, young children's temperament and sleep in a population based longitudinal cohort study.BMC pediatrics · 2022Article
- The impact of crying, sleeping, and eating problems in infants on childhood behavioral outcomes: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2022Review
- Infant crying problems related to maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy: a prospective cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Article
- Brain to Belly: Abdominal Variants of Migraine and Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders Associated With Migraine.Journal of neurogastroenterology and motility · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The onset of behavioral problems starts in early life. This study examined whether excessive infant crying (maternal ratings) is a determinant of emotional and behavioral problems at age 5-6 years. In the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development (ABCD) study, a large prospective, observational, population-based multiethnic birth cohort, excessive infant crying (crying for three or more hours per 24 h day over the past week) during the 13th week after birth (range 11-25 weeks, SD 2 weeks), maternal burden of infant care and maternal aggressive behavior (either angry speaking, or physical aggression) was assessed using a questionnaire. Children's behavioral and emotional problems at the age of 5-6 were assessed by Goodman's Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), by the subscale of generalized anxiety of the preschool anxiety scale (PAS), and by the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ). Inclusion criterion was singleton birth. Exclusion criteria were preterm born babies or congenital disorders. Among 3389 children, excessive infant crying (n = 102) was associated with a twofold increased risk of the overall problem behavior, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and mood problems at the age of 5-6 [ORs between 1.75 (95 % CI 1.09-2.81) and 2.12 (95 % CI 1.30-3.46)]. This association was mediated by maternal burden of infant care (change in odds' ratio 1-17 %) and maternal aggressive behavior (change in odds' ratio 4-10 %). There was no effect modification by the child's gender or maternal parity. Excessive infant crying was not associated with general anxiety problems. Excessive infant crying doubles the risk of behavioral, hyperactivity, and mood problems at the age of 5-6, as reported by their mother. Maternal burden of infant care partially mediates the association between excessive crying and behavioral and mood problems. Special care for mothers with a high burden of care for their excessive crying infant, notwithstanding their own good health, can be a feasible strategy for possible prevention of mood and behavioral problems in their children later in life.
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