Identifying antenatal and post-natal factors that influence and moderate the development of infant and early child temperament in a large ethnically diverse cohort

• Applicant: Dr. Anja Schoeps
• Subject Area: Epidemiology and Medical Biometry/Statistics
• Term: from 2019 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 422375907

Humans differ in behavior from very early on. Some infants struggle with life more than others and show ‘difficult’ temperament, such as fuzzing, crying, or sleeping problems. Studies have shown that parents of such infants show lower attachment and parenting confidence and suffer from anger and depression more frequently. Apart from those direct effects, infant temperament relates to problematic behavior in later childhood and adulthood. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease theory postulates that conditions before and during pregnancy strongly influence the physical and psychological wellbeing of the offspring.Research has aimed to determine the origins of differences in infant temperament and has identified a number of factors that may be associated. While there is strong evidence for an effect of maternal stress and anxiety during pregnancy, the role of other factors is less clear. Among them are maternal depression, alcohol and drug consumption or smoking, especially in lower doses, mother’s diet, and conditions during delivery.It is the main objective of this research project to identify factors that influence or moderate infant and child temperament, with a special focus on self-regulation. Secondary objectives are the identification of factors that are related to temperament trajectories between 9 months and 4.5 years, possible differences between ethnic groups, and the effect of cumulative risk.Data for the project come from the Growing Up in New Zealand Cohort, which captures longitudinal data of about 6,800 children recruited during pregnancy in 2009/10. The main outcome infant temperament was assessed by mother report with the infant behavior questionnaire revised very short form (IBQ-R-VSF) when the children were nine months old, and child temperament at age 4.5 years using the child behavior questionnaire very short form (CBQ-VSF). The CBQ-VSF was designed to correspond to the IBQ-R-VSF.Information was collected via face-to-face interviews with the mothers antenatally and when the children were nine months, two years, and 4.5 years old. This includes mother’s mental and physical health, smoking, alcohol and drug consumption, nutrition during pregnancy, physical activity before and during pregnancy, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and family support. Comparable information is also available from the partners. There is information on parity, morning sickness, gestational age at birth and birth weight, and complications during delivery. For answering the first research questions, multivariable linear regression models will be used to identify factors that have an effect on or mediate infant temperament, while adjusting for possible confounders.It is important to identify factors that (i) are modifiable and can thus be influenced by parents or (ii) that are non-modifiable but can inform gynecologists and midwifes, so they can better prepare parents who are more likely to have a demanding and less regulated child.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: New Zealand
• Host: Dr. Elizabeth Peterson