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Developmental pathways from preschool temper tantrums to later psychopathology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2022

Caroline P. Hoyniak Open the ORCID record for Caroline P. Hoyniak [Opens in a new window] ,
Meghan R. Donohue Open the ORCID record for Meghan R. Donohue [Opens in a new window] ,
Laura E. Quiñones-Camacho Open the ORCID record for Laura E. Quiñones-Camacho [Opens in a new window] ,
Alecia C. Vogel Open the ORCID record for Alecia C. Vogel [Opens in a new window] ,
Michael T. Perino ,
Laura Hennefield ,
Rebecca Tillman ,
Deanna M. Barch  and
Joan L. Luby
Caroline P. Hoyniak*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
Meghan R. Donohue
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
Laura E. Quiñones-Camacho
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
Alecia C. Vogel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
Michael T. Perino
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
Laura Hennefield
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
Rebecca Tillman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
Deanna M. Barch
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA The Program in Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
Joan L. Luby
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
*
Corresponding author: Caroline P. Hoyniak, email: choyniak@wustl.edu
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Abstract

Temper tantrums are sudden, overt negative emotional displays that are disproportionate to the eliciting event. Research supports that severe temper tantrums during the preschool period are associated with preschool psychopathology, but few studies have identified which characteristics of preschool tantrums are predictive of distal psychopathological outcomes in later childhood and adolescence. To examine this question, we used a prospective, longitudinal dataset enriched for early psychopathology. Participants (N = 299) included 3-to 6-year-old children (47.8% female) assessed for tantrums and early childhood psychopathology using diagnostic interviews and then continually assessed using diagnostic interviews over 10 subsequent time points throughout childhood and adolescence. We identified two unique groupings of tantrum behaviors: aggression towards others/objects (e.g., hitting others) and aggression towards self (e.g., hitting self). While both types of tantrum behaviors were associated with early childhood psychopathology severity, tantrum behaviors characterized by aggression towards self were more predictive of later psychopathology. Children displaying high levels of both types of tantrum behaviors had more severe externalizing problems during early childhood and more severe depression and oppositional defiant disorder across childhood and adolescence. Findings suggest that tantrum behaviors characterized by aggression towards self are particularly predictive of later psychopathology.

Keywords

aggressionearly childhoodlongitudinal courseself-injurious behaviorstemper tantrums
Type
Regular Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , October 2023 , pp. 1643 - 1655
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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