PSYCHOSOCIAL PREDISPOSING FACTORS FOR INFANTILE COLIC

Objective-To study associations between characteristics of families du ring the first pregnancy and after childbirth and the development of i nfantile colic. Design-Randomised, stratified cluster sampling. Follow up from the first visit to a maternity health care clinic during preg nancy to three months after birth with confidential semistructured que stionnaires. Setting-Maternity health care clinics in primary health c are centres in Finland. Subjects-1443 nulliparous women and 1407 partn ers. Altogether 1333 women and 1279 men returned the questionnaires. W hen the infants were 3 months old 1208 women and 1115 men returned que stionnaires. Main outcome measures-Marital relationship; personal and social behaviour of parents during the pregnancy and their coping with the pregnancy; mothers' physical health and events, symptoms, and exp eriences in relation to pregnancy; self confidence and experiences of mothers and fathers in relation to childbirth; and parents' sociodemog raphic and educational variables. Measure of colic when the infant was 3 months old. Results-Experience of stress and physical symptoms duri ng the pregnancy, dissatisfaction with the sexual relationship, and ne gative,experiences during childbirth were associated with the developm ent of colic in the baby. None of the sociodemographic factors was ass ociated with colic. Conclusions-Early preventive health work during pr egnancy should attempt to improve parents' tolerance of symptoms of st ress and ability to cope and increase their confidence in parenting ab ilities.