AUTHOR=Galling Britta , Brauer Hannah , Struck Pia , Krogmann Amanda , Gross-Hemmi Mirja , Prehn-Kristensen Alexander , Mudra Susanne 

TITLE=The impact of crying, sleeping, and eating problems in infants on childhood behavioral outcomes: A meta-analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 1 - 2022

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/child-and-adolescent-psychiatry/articles/10.3389/frcha.2022.1099406

DOI=10.3389/frcha.2022.1099406

ISSN=2813-4540

ABSTRACT=Background: There is increasing evidence that regulatory problems (RPs) such as excessive crying, sleeping, or feeding problems in infancy could be associated with the development of behavioral problems in childhood. In this meta-analysis we aimed to investigate the strength and characteristics of this association.
Methods: Systematic literature search (PubMed/PsycInfo, until 15/08/2021) for longitudinal prospective studies of infants with RPs and at least one follow-up assessment reporting incidence and/or severity of behavioral problems. The primary outcomes were (i) the cumulative incidence of behavioral problems in children (2-14 years) with previous RPs and (ii) the difference between children with/without previous RPs with regard to the incidence and severity of externalizing, internalizing and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Additionally, we analyzed behavioral problems of children with previous single, multiple and no RPs, and regarding age at follow-up. Subgroup- and meta-regression-analyses were added. 
Results: 30 meta-analyzed studies reported on 34582 participants (nRP=5091, ncontrol=29491; age: baseline=6.5±4.5 months, follow-up=5.5±2.8 years) with excessive crying (studies=13, n=1577), sleeping problems (studies=9, n=2014), eating problems (studies=3, n=105), any single (studies=2, n=201) and multiple RPs (studies=9, n=1194). The cumulative incidence for behavioral problems during childhood was 23.3% in children with RPs. Behavioral problems were significantly more pronounced in infants with RPs compared to healthy controls (SMD=0.381, 95%CI=0.296-0.466, p<.001), particularly with multiple RPs (SMD=0.291, p=0.018). 
Conclusions: Findings suggest that RPs in infancy are associated with overall behavioral problems (externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior, and ADHD symptoms) in childhood. Our data cannot explain linked developmental trajectories and underlying factors. However, detection of affected infants may help adapting supportive measures to the individual familiar needs to promote the parent-child-relationship and prevent the development of child behavioral problems from early on.