Browsing by Subject "säätelyn ongelmat"

Introduction. According to previous studies, regulatory problems such as excessive crying and problems with eating and sleeping in infancy and toddlerhood are associated with behavioral problems in childhood. Especially multiple regulatory problems (2-3 regulatory problems at the same measurement point) and persistent regulatory problems (regulatory problems found at more than 1 measurement point) are strongly associated with externalizing behavioral problems but also with internalizing behavioral problems. The association between regulatory problems and mental disorders is not well understood yet. The aim of this study is to find out whether multiple or persistent regulatory problems at 5, 20 and 56 months of age are associated with mental disorders in young adulthood, whether there are specific associations with certain disorders and whether the possible associations persist when a number of key pre- and postnatal variables are controlled for. In addition, gender differences in the associations are analyzed. Methods. The data consisted of participants in the Arvo Ylppö longitudinal study born in 1985 to 1986. There were 718 participants in total, of whom 592 with regulatory problems at 5, 20 and/or 56 months of age. A structured psychiatric interview was administrated by using the computer based diagnostic interview program M-CIDI. The interview accounted for all DSM-IV (2000, 4th ed.) axis I mental disorders, and their combined prevalence is studied in the thesis. Also, mood-, anxiety- and substance use disorders are studied more specifically. Results and conclusions. On the basis of logistic regression analyses, multiple regulatory problems at 5 months of age were associated with mental disorders in young adulthood. After controlling for the key pre- and postnatal variables, the association between feeding and sleeping problems at 5 months of age and mood disorders in young adulthood was statistically significant (p<.05). More specifically, the risk (Odds Ratio, OR) of bipolar disorder diagnosis was 14.62 times higher for those who had feeding and sleeping problems at 5 months of age when compared with the participants without feeding and sleeping problems (p<.01). However, wide intervals indicate that the association between multiple regulatory problems and bipolar disorder should be interpreted cautiously. In addition, indications were found that multiple regulatory problems are associated with major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorder in young adulthood. Persistent regulatory problems were not associated with mental disorders in young adulthood. Also, the interaction between multiple or persistent regulatory problems and sex was not found. The results of this study increase knowledge of the association between regulatory problems and mental disorders and underline the importance to target the early preventions and interventions in a more effective manner among those with regulatory problems.