Parents' interactions with their baby during the first year of life can predict the odds of behavior problems later on — as can the baby's natural temperament, research suggests.
The study, which followed nearly 1,900 children from infancy up to age 13, found that children whose mothers gave them plenty of intellectual stimulation in the first year of life — reading to them, talking to them and taking them out of the house — were less likely to have serious behavioral problems.
At the same time, the odds of behavior problems were also linked to certain measures of the children's temperament during infancy — such as how "fussy" they were, or whether they had a generally happy or more moody disposition.
The findings suggest that both early parenting style and infant temperament are strong predictors of future behavior, the researchers conclude in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
The findings also point to the potential benefits of teaching new parents the skills they need, according to the investigators, led by Dr. Benjamin B. Lahey of the University of Chicago.
"The current findings are consistent with the hypothesis that interventions focusing on parenting during the first year of life would be beneficial in preventing future child conduct problems," the researchers write.
The study involved 1,863 U.S. children and their mothers. When the children were infants, researchers visited their homes and observed their mothers' interactions with them. Mothers were also interviewed about their babies' typical temperament.
Overall, Lahey's team found, babies who were often fussy or had unpredictable behavior patterns — being hungry or tired at different times each day, for instance — were more likely to have behavior problems later in childhood.
These problems included things like acting out or cheating at school, lying, bullying other children or disobeying their parents.
In contrast, children who were less fussy and had predictable moods as infants were at "very low risk" of future conduct problems, the researchers report.
A similarly low risk was seen among children whose mothers had provided them with plenty of intellectual stimulation in infancy — by reading to them or taking them out of the house regularly, for instance.
Such parenting, according to the researchers, may be a good reflection of how generally caring and affectionate parents are. But stimulating activities during infancy may also allow facilitate language development — which makes it easier for children to communicate and socialize.
As for early-life temperament and childhood behavior, it's known that both are to some degree determined by genetics, Lahey and his colleagues note.
However, the researchers conclude, "much remains to be learned about the mechanisms through which infant temperament, parenting during infancy, and later conduct problems are related."