Study: Problematic behavior becomes evident in infancy

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How can parents tell if they have a problem child on their hands? A new study says problematic behavior can be spotted during infancy.

All right parents, when did you first feel you could see your baby's personality? One Salt Lake County mom says she could see her child's temperament almost right away.

She said, "She always had a great heart and a great spirit, and she was always so generous and sweet with everyone, and that's how she is now."

But is there such a thing as a baby who is downright nasty? Another Salt Lake County mother said, "I don't think I would call any baby a jerk, all babies are beautiful, right? But, yeah, some babies really have a lot more colic or they're just really hard to comfort."

For the parents of difficult babies, there is a bit of bad news. A new study from the University of Chicago says a baby's temperament is a strong predictor of behavior problems later. Fussy children, or babies with unpredictable behavior, were more prone to problems like bullying and cheating at school.

University of Utah Medical Center pediatrics chief Chuck Norlin said, "Certainly, over the first few months, some [behavior] styles usually become somewhat apparent."

The other predictors are parental interaction and the amount of intellectual stimulation parents gave their children. Norlin says parental styles need to match up with the personality of the child.

"For example, parents who like to have a very rigid schedule, if they have a kid who likes to have a very rigid schedule, that works really well," Norlin said.

Norlin says bad baby behavior isn't always caused by a mean temperament. He says there are things that could produce behaviors that are hard to distinguish from temperament.

"Some kids will have something called gastroesophageal reflux, where they get what we would otherwise call heartburn, which then could cause them to have pain," he said.

But Norlin says cases like that are rare. He says there are things parents can do to calm a baby with a bad temperament down.

"Define things that help them be more comfortable and support them in figuring out how to satisfy their own needs," he said.

But this is harder to do in the child's younger years.

E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com