Infant crying patterns in the first year: normal community and clinical findings.
To provide information about persistent infant crying, crying durations and patterns were measured at four age points (1-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12 months) in normal community (N = 400) and clinical (N = 68) samples. The findings provide a range of prevalence figures and descriptive statistics which may be useful for parents and professionals faced with infant crying. A large developmental shift in crying amount, and two age-related changes of crying pattern, were found. Clinical infants showed the same crying profiles as the general community infants, but were found to cry substantially more. Although mothers of first-borns were more likely to seek clinical referral, there were no birth-order differences in crying amount or pattern. The findings' implications for studies of infant temperament and development are indicated.
St James-Roberts
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Department of Child Development and Primary Education, University of London, U.K.
Halil
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D000367:Age Factors; D001722:Birth Order; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003448:Crying / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010553:Personality Development; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012016:Reference Values; D012017:Referral and Consultation