In the first months of life, there are clear indications of which babies are at highest risk of developing anxiety and depression in childhood and beyond, new research shows.
“Difficult temperament at five months was the most important predictor of depression and anxiety in the children,” says Sylvana Côté, a professor in the department of social and preventive medicine at the Université de Montréal.
“As early as the first year of life, there are indications that some children have more risks than others to develop high levels of depression and anxiety.”
The research, published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, shows that the moodiness of babies can be an indicator of their future mental health.
Children whose mothers have a history of depression also have a high risk.
To conduct the study, researchers evaluated a group of preschoolers aged five months to five years on an annual basis. All 1,758 children were born in Quebec. Their mothers provided information on behaviour and family members during extensive one-on-one interviews.
The questions were designed to determine if the child was nervous, high strung or tense, fearful or anxious, worried, less happy than other children or had difficulty having fun.
While babies and young children are perceived as carefree, researchers found that about one in seven infants actually show early signs of anxiety and depression.
This temperament places them on a “high trajectory” for anxiety disorders and clinical depression as they grow older and enter the school years, Dr. Côté says.
The researcher said that this predisposition does not mean mental illness is inevitable.
On the contrary, Dr. Côté says, early intervention with mother and child can make a difference.
“Health professionals should target high-risk children at infancy, as well as their parents, to have a long-term impact on their well-being.”
While it is not entirely clear what works best, “it is critical that preventive interventions be experimented with infants who risk developing depressive and anxiety disorders,” Dr. Côté adds.
She says that even the youngest children can be taught how to better express and deal with their emotions, and that can be key to preventing mental health problems.
