ArticleBiological psychiatry2026
From Infant Temperament to Anxiety: Infant Neural Responsivity to Unexpected Stimuli Shapes Outcomes.
Article in Biological psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Neural Responsivity to Unexpected Stimuli Moderates a Developmental Pathway to Anxiety: A Community-Sample Replication in Early Infancy and Childhood.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNegative reactivity (NR) and behavioral inhibition (BI), temperamental traits characterized by novelty-evoked distress and avoidance, respectively, represent risk markers for anxiety. However, not all infants with NR and BI develop anxiety. Pathways from infant temperament to anxiety remain underspecified. This study tests the hypothesis that heightened neural sensitivity to unexpected sensory stimuli in infancy moderates risk for anxiety.
methodsData from the Temperament Over Time Study (N = 291) were utilized. Infants completed laboratory-based assessments of NR at 4 months (M) and BI at 2 to 3 years. BI was also assessed using parent report. At 9M and 36M, electroencephalography was collected during a passive 3-stimulus auditory oddball task, and the mismatch response (MMR) and novelty P3 were quantified. Adolescent anxiety was measured using parent- and self-reports and clinical interviews at 13 and 15 years. Structural equational modeling analyses were applied to examine whether infants' MMR or novelty P3 at 9M and 36M modulate relationships between NR, BI, and adolescent anxiety.
resultsThe MMR at 9M moderated the relationship between NR and BI, and the MMR at 36M moderated the relationship between BI and 13-year anxiety. In both cases, a more negative MMR was associated with elevated risk. This association was not present for attention problems or externalizing outcomes. Additional exploratory analyses showed that the novelty P3 mediated pathways from NR to social anxiety.
conclusionsIndividual differences in the infant's neural response to unexpected stimuli relate to temperamental risk for anxiety.
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