2026 ECNP Congress

PS04-4166

Early problems with crying, sleeping and feeding are associated with altered connectivity of the allostatic interoceptive system later in life

Barbara Gungl — F. Keskin Kržan, C. Sorg, D. Wolke, R. Muetzel, S. Mulej Bratec · Faculty of Arts- University of Maribor, Department of Psychology, Maribor, Slovenia

2026 ECNP Congress

Introduction

Early regulatory problems (RPs), which include excessive crying, sleeping problems, and/or feeding difficulties during the first years of life, increase the risk for mental health issues, such as internalising and externalising, later in life [1,2]. Recent studies have also associated RPs with maladaptive brain changes in the default mode and salience networks in adulthood [3,4]. Since research on neurobiological underpinnings is scarce, the purpose of this study was to investigate associations between early RPs in infancy, within and between-network intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) in childhood, adolescence and adulthood, as well as mental health outcomes, using data of two prospective cohort studies.

Methods

The study analysed data of two large prospective population-based cohort studies: Generation R (GenR; The Netherlands) and the Bavarian Longitudinal Study (BLS; Germany). We conducted separate analyses for each developmental phase, using a listwise approach and controlling for the effects of sex, socioeconomic status, birth weight and scanner (in BLS only). The final sample included 1,004 people at the age of 9 (GenR), 718 people at the age of 14 (GenR), and 129 people at the age of 26 (BLS). In GenR, samples were divided into four RP groups: never RPs, defined as no RPs or a single RP at one timepoint, multiple RPs, defined as at least two RPs at a single timepoint, persistent RPs, defined as one or more RPs present at three or more timepoints, and multiple-persistent RPs, defined as two or three RPs present across three or more timepoints. Meanwhile, BLS was divided into two RP groups due to the smaller sample size (i.e., never and multiple and/or persistent).

Results

Early RPs were associated with iFC changes in childhood and adolescence. In detail, within-network analyses showed a significant effect of RPs in the salience network at the ages of 9 (F(3, 997) = 3.406, p = .017, η2p = .010) and 14 (F(3, 711) = 3.202, p= .023, η2p = .013). Between-network analyses showed no additional results. Importantly, there was also a significant link between the salience network connectivity and the anxious/depressed scale on the Child Behaviour Checklist at the age of 14 (t(713) = 2.501, p = .013). An exploratory mediation analysis did not confirm the salience network iFC as the mediator between RPs and the anxious/depressed scale score (bootstrap confidence interval: X1: 95% CI [−0.002, 0.137]; X2: 95% CI [−0.012, 0.321]; X3: 95% CI [−0.236, 0.038]).

Conclusions

Results demonstrate, for the first time, an association between RPs in infancy and salience network resting-state connectivity in childhood and adolescence, pointing to a change in the allostatic interoceptive brain system, in line with previous findings focusing on brain changes in adulthood. In addition, resting-state connectivity changes of the salience network in adolescence were related with the anxious/depressed scale, pointing to an association between RPs, salience network connectivity and long-term mental health outcomes, specifically anxiety and depression related symptoms.

References

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  2. D. Wolke, N. Baumann, J. Jaekel, R. Pyhälä, K. Heinonen, K. Räikkönen, C. Sorg, A. Bilgin, The association of early regulatory problems with behavioral problems and cognitive functioning in adulthood: two cohorts in two countries, J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 64 (2023) 876–885. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13742.
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