A latest study shows that infants who sweat less in response to a scary situation at age one are more likely to be aggressive as toddlers.
Generally people tend to sweat more in response to scary and emotional situations. Earlier studies have shown that different levels of sweat measured by skin conductance activity or SCA are linked to aggressive behavior in children and teens. The study head, Stephanie Van Goozen , psychological scientist at Cardiff University, wanted to test if infants who barely registered any response to scary or dangerous situations sweated less.
The researchers attached electrodes to infants' feet to test their SCA. The SCA levels of the one-year-olds were recorded when they were resting, in response to loud and sudden noises and when they saw a noisy, moving remote-controlled robot.
These same infants were followed up in the study at age 3 and their mothers were questioned about their aggressive behavior. It was found that infants who had lower SCA levels when they were resting and when exposed to the noisy robots were more aggressive at age 3.
This was rated against their temperament in the infancy stage and it was found to have no relationship.
"These findings show that it is possible to identify at-risk children long before problematic behavior is readily observable. Identifying precursors of disorder in the context of typical development can inform the implementation of effective prevention programs and ultimately reduce the psychological and economic costs of antisocial behavior to society," Van Goozen said.
This finding has great implication in finding future aggressive behavior of children.
