Fussiness and too much crying in the early years (infancy) do not place a child in the grip of any mental health issues later in life, a new study says.
On the other hand, many other factors, like the relationship between the mother and the baby may be playing a major role.
The findings comes as a relief and contradiction to many mother's belief.
"It may be that the child's early behavioral dysregulation has affected the relationship between the child and the mother, such that the mother continues to see the child as having problems, even when they do not," Dr. Rebecca Hyde, of Mater Children's Hospital in South Brisbane, Australia, told Reuters Health.
For examining the link between childhood fussiness and mental health problems, Hyde and colleagues included 3,100 young adults born in 1980.
Mothers of the participants shared details about their children's problems like feeding, sleeping, over activeness and colic at six months.
According to the details provided by the mothers, about 10 percent of the infants were placed in the risk category of developing behavior issues later in life.
Later, when the participants reached 14, these mothers reported aggression, depression and withdrawal among their children.
However, the children themselves didn't report experiencing any problems and they didn't show any symptoms of mental or health problems at 21.
Maintaining a healthy and positive relationship with the child is the ultimate factor that influences his/her mental health later, the researchers emphasized after reaching the conclusion.
"I would say that parents should be reassured that their children are not going to have long-term behavioral or mental health concerns," Hyde told Reuters Health.
Findings of the study have been published online in Pediatrics.
