Infantile colic. Follow-up at four years of age: still more "emotional"

This paper presents a follow-up at 4 y of formerly colicky infants and cont rols, with respect to behaviour, temperament, eating and sleeping habits, p sychosomatic complaints, number of hospital stays, growth and "family clima te". There were no differences between the two groups in most parameters st udied. However, ex-colicky children displayed more negative emotions accord ing to the temperament scale. There were also more negative moods during me als, and more reported stomach-ache. Although relationships regarding cryin g and mother-infant interaction remain extremely complex, the findings poin t toward a possible temperamental contribution to the pathogenesis of the i nfantile colic syndrome.