Mental Disorders in Early Childhood

Background: About 17% of all children suffer from a mental disorder in early childhood, defined as the period up to the age of 6 years.

Methods: This review is based on publications retrieved by a selective search in PubMed and the Web of Science, as well as on the authors’ clinical and scientific experience.

Results: In children up to age 2, disorders of emotional and motor regulation are common (ca. 7%), as are feeding problems (25%), which persist in 2% of children to meet the diagnostic criteria for a feeding disorder. Reactive attachment disorder, a serious mental illness, has a prevalence of about 1%: it is more common among children in situations of increased risk, e.g., orphanages and foster homes. Preschool children can develop anxiety disorder and depressive disorder, as well as hyperactivity and behavioral disorders (the latter two mainly in boys). Parent training and parent–child psychotherapy have been found to be effective treatments. There is no evidence that psychotropic drugs are effective in early childhood.

Conclusion: The diagnostician should act cautiously when assigning psychopathological significance to symptoms arising in early childhood but should still be able to recognize mental disorders early from the way they are embedded in the child’s interactive relationships with parents or significant others, and then to initiate the appropriate treatment. Psychotherapy in this age group is still in need of validation by efficacy studies and longitudinal studies of adequate quality.

Epidemiological studies reveal a 16–18% prevalence of mental disorders among children aged 1 to 5 years, with somewhat more than half being severely affected (1–3). There is evidence that many disturbances occurring in the first year of life that are commonly thought to be transient, e.g., infantile colic (“screaming baby”), persist beyond the first year in about one-third of cases (e1) and constitute risk factors for further disturbances in the child’s later development (e2, e3).

It is currently debated whether disorders at such an early age merit examination and treatment by a child psychiatrist (2). In one American study, only 11% of affected children were referred to a specialist (2, e4). It is often unclear whether an early disorder is best interpreted as an expression of problematic interpersonal relationships or, alternatively, as a potential first sign of individual psychopathology. The uncertainty arises because children develop very rapidly, both biologically and mentally, from birth to age 6; during this time, both normal and pathological mental phenomena may be only fleetingly observed. Neuroscientific studies have made it clear that the quality of early relationships is reflected in the architecture of the brain and thus plays a key role in the development of the child’s personality (4, 5). Basic research on both rats and human beings has shown that pre- and post-natal experiences of deprivation lead to abnormal reactivity of the immature individual’s hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical (HPA) axis, mediated by changes in the epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (6, 7).

The younger the child is, the more embedded his or her behavior and biopsychosocial equilibrium are in relationships with parents and other carers. The determination whether any putative manifestation of a mental disorder is truly pathological, or just an expression of normality, can only be made in reference to the child’s current stage of development and its characteristic features. The diagnostic nomenclature in German-speaking countries is not uniform: Cierpka (8) mainly takes a developmental point of view and attempts to describe disorders of development in terms of their embedding in interpersonal relationships, without applying psychiatric diagnoses at this early stage. In contrast, von Gontard (9) tries to follow the psychiatric disorders defined in the ICD-10 and DSM-V diagnostic manuals (10, e5, e6) backward in time, assessing the qualitative and quantitative aspects of their occurrence in early childhood. In the DC:0–3R classification (11), groups of clinical disorders and relationship disorders are defined on distinct diagnostic axes. In this article, we proceed from the point of view of early childhood development, describing typical relationship disorders in early childhood and giving examples of clinical syndromes that influence major biopsychological regulatory systems (food intake, motor function, affect). In a final section, we discuss diagnostic and therapeutic aspects.

Our discussion of these disorders and their treatment is based on articles retrieved by a selective literature search in the PubMed and Web of Science databases, with the search terms “reactive attachment disorder,” “feeding disorder,” “depression,” “anxiety disorder,” “ADHD,” “psychotherapy,” “age 0–6,” and on review articles.

Learning objectives

This article is intended to make readers familiar with:

• changes over the course of mental development from birth to the age of 6 years
• the conditions under which mental illnesses arise in this age group
• the main types of disorder
• the basic principles of treatment.

Concepts in developmental psychology

In recent decades, it has become increasingly clear from the empirical evidence that children, after having their earliest mental experiences in utero, develop from birth onward in a relationship with their primary caregivers and play an increasingly active role in the interaction (5, 12). For a classification by age, see also Box 1. Infants gradually develop a conception of themselves; this development of the self as subject starts from an inborn disposition to form social relationships and then proceeds to increasingly well-defined experiences of the self. Stern describes this as a trajectory that begins with an “emerging self” in the first weeks of life, proceeds to a gradually developing conception of a “core self,” involving a feeling of coherence, and then arrives at a “subjective self,” possessing an inherent theory of its own identity as distinct from others (e7). From the second year of life onward, development progresses to a “verbal self,” with acquisition of the capacity for symbolic use of language and for verbal exchange with other people. This, in turn, gives rise (for example) to the ability to frame the experience of the self, in relation to others, in a form that can be verbally recounted, i.e., a narrative organization of self-perception (e7). In parallel with this development of the infant into a self as subject, there develops an intuitive parental competence to form a relationship with the infant, which is just as much a matter of biological predisposition as the infant’s development. Parents usually behave in a sensitive and strongly expressive way toward their child, and this leads to increased attention on the infant’s part (e8). Thus, in the child’s first year, reciprocally regulated exchange processes take place, in which, over and over again, each party produces pleasurable expressions of affect and also attentively perceives the affect of the other. The infant manifests immediate responsive evaluation of the adult’s intention as expressed by communication. Such affective exchange processes, called “intersubjectivity” (13), provide a basis for the child’s ability to interpret its own or other people’s behavior by ascribing mental states to them (mentalization) (14).

Box 1

Age classification

As biological maturation progresses, the child is required again and again to overcome established developmental equilibria in order to contend with new developmental tasks. A typical transitional phase (15) (“organizers of development”) (e9) takes place toward the end of the first year of life, when the child’s relationships become more specific and the child begins to take more interest in joint attention and cooperation with his/her primary caregivers (16). This phase is associated with anxiety, e.g., toward strangers and in situations of separation (e10). The child becomes more aware of being separated from the primary caregiver; this opens up new developmental perspectives but also introduces new, crisis-driven negative affects. Thereafter, increasing mobility and autonomy in the second year of life are associated with euphoria on the one hand, with anxiety and attempts to get close to the caregiver again on the other (e11). Linguistic ability and the development of a verbal self also open up major developmental opportunities but can be associated with sad affects, as the child must give up the illusion of being wordlessly understood and increasingly develops feelings of worry and guilt on perceiving his or her own aggressive affect toward the mother (“depressive position”) (e12). Parents, by dealing sensitively with the child’s urgent desires and needs, help the child cope with such developmental crises from infancy onward (17). In the preschool years, the child must deal with a wider social sphere and develops new forms of affect regulation (e13) and social relationships with peers (18).

Regulatory disorders in important developmental systems such as food intake, motor function, and affect usually have multiple determinants. On the child’s side, the immaturity of biopsychosocial functions, a difficult temperament, and organic risk factors (e.g., gastroesophageal reflux, atopy, brain diseases) can play a role (19). On the parents’ side, problematic internal representations of the child (e14) can be a risk. What results is often a disturbance of interactions involving reassurance, feeding, and/or going to sleep. The younger the child, the greater the extent to which the individual manifestations of disease are bound up with disturbances of intersubjectivity and interpersonal relationships. Thus, the diagnosis must include not only the pathology of the individual, but that of the relationship as well.

Types of disorder

Relationship disorders: reactive attachment disorder

Typical types of problematic parental relationship qualities, as described in DC:0–3, are listed in Box 2 (11). For example, the child’s development may suffer because of an overinvolved parental attitude, i.e., excessive domination and too little autonomy for the child, or, alternatively, from an underinvolved attitude, i.e., insensitivity or even neglect.

Box 2

Problematic qualities of parental relationships

A hostile or abusive parental attitude toward a small child is highly pathogenic. It can lead to marked deficits in the child’s cognitive and emotional development, and in his or her physical development as well (e.g., stunted growth). Reactive attachment disorder (Figure) is the prototypical primary relationship disorder. All psychiatric classification systems agree that the etiologic factors for this disease entity include insufficient parental care, socio-emotional neglect, repeated changes of primary caregivers, and inadequately staffed infant-care facilities (20). Attachment disorder has a prevalence of about 1% in the general population (1) but is much more common in settings where the child is especially at risk, e.g., foster homes and orphanages (e15).

Figure

Etiology and types of reactive attachment disorder

The key features for the diagnosis of an attachment disorder are persistent neglect as the characteristic etiology, combined with the typical behavior patterns of inhibition or disinhibition. This diagnosis should not be confused with attachment classifications (e17) that are based on the attachment theory of Bowlby (e16), which describe typical mother–child relationship patterns at the end of the child’s first year in relation to brief episodes of separation and reunification (secure, insecure avoidant, and insecure ambivalent/resistant pattern). These are not pathological; rather, they are normal variants of interactive behavior. No reliable data are available on the frequency of comorbid disorders. Hypervigilance and irritability in an infant, toddler, or preschool child should arouse the suspicion of a comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (e18). In a preschool child, a post-traumatic stress disorder can also express itself in repetitive play with recurrent catastrophic themes (e18).

It is important to distinguish attachment disorders from other disorders, such as autism or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), even if empirically validated differential-diagnostic criteria are not always available. Nonetheless, clinical experience suggests that such distinctions often more closely reflect an idealized view of symptom clusters than they reflect reality: in fact, many complex disturbances can have multiple causes, and the patient’s behavior is often hard to classify unambiguously as either psychosocial-reactive on the one hand, or of primary biological origin on the other.

Unsurprisingly, in view of its etiology, reactive attachment disorder takes markedly different forms in different sociocultural contexts. In some countries, the disorder is common because many infants and small children live in qualitatively and quantitatively understaffed children’s homes/orphanages, owing to unfavorable socio-economic conditions (21). In contrast, in highly developed Western industrial countries, attachment disorder is more often due to intrafamilial deprivation arising from risk factors such as mental illness (particularly addiction) in the parents, disintegration of the family, teenage parenthood, poverty, and transgenerational traumatization (20, e12). Studies of deprived Romanian children adopted by healthy families after their orphanages were closed have shown that the two variants of the disorder are equally common, and that inhibited manifestations carry a more favorable prognosis than disinhibited ones (22). The age of the child upon adoption, the duration of the deprivation, and the quality of the new relationship are all prognostically significant.

Disorders of food intake: feeding disorders

Food intake is a basic, yet complex challenge for the infant. The development of oropharyngeal and general motor function, coordination, and especially interactive behavior while the child eats or is being fed are among the individual maturational steps that all infants must take. By the age of twelve months, infants become increasingly independent and start to explore the food that is offered them, functionally, through motor function, and through smell and taste, in a manner that is strongly culturally dependent (23). The development of autonomy is also constantly being recalibrated during meals (24), as are the child’s modes of dealing with new things and of expressing opposition (e19). The prevalence of diagnosed feeding disorders in 18-month-old infants is 2.5% (1). About 25% of parents subjectively report problems feeding their infant in the first six months of life (e20). Difficulties with food intake arise in up to 80% of developmentally delayed children (23). One-quarter of all very low birth weight preterm infants (weighing less than 1500 g at birth) have feeding problems in the first year of life, with persistence into the fourth year in 25% of cases (25).

Feeding disorders come in diverse types and have diverse causes (Box 3), including abnormal parent–child interactions and a wide variety of underlying somatic illnesses. The principal types to be mentioned here are functional dysphagia—often associated with brain injury, cerebral palsy, tracheostomy, preterm birth, and craniofacial malformations (e21)—and feeding disorders of preterm infants after hospital discharge, due to their still immature oral motor coordination (e5, e22). Developmental delay can be associated with difficulty accepting foods of a particular taste or consistency, lack of appetite, or a lack of interest in eating (e23). Children with early childhood anorexia do not show any feeling of hunger or interest in eating and use meals only to explore and interact, with marked failure to thrive as the result.

Box 3

Types of feeding disorder

With so many different etiologies, the diagnostic evaluation of early childhood feeding disorders clearly must be interdisciplinary. Important elements of the evaluation include a thorough history (key points: gestation, delivery, early childhood development, eating behavior, and any mental disorders of the parents, especially eating disorders), height and weight percentiles, standardized developmental assessment (e.g., on the Bayley or Griffith scale), and, if necessary, examination by a pediatric neurologist and pH measurement to rule out gastroesophageal reflux disorder. Dysphagia affecting any phase of the swallowing process can be classified in standardized fashion on the penetration-aspiration scale (e24); dysphagia can be associated with disturbed eating behavior and can lead to a feeding disorder. Video recordings of the home feeding and play situations can be a good start for the diagnostic evaluation of parent–child interactions.

Persistent feeding and eating difficulties can develop into broader disturbances of the parent–child interaction, especially when overchallenged parents react with intrusive behavior. Eating problems often persist: 48% of children with eating disturbances at 6 months still ate irregularly at 2–4 years of age (e25). Infants whose mothers have an eating disorder are at higher risk of a feeding disorder (e26), but there are no prospective studies on the putative association of feeding disorders in early childhood with eating disorders in adolescence and adulthood.

Disorders of motor regulation/hyperactivity

In so-called disorders of regulation, the child has difficulty regulating his or her emotional, behavioral, and motor responses to sensory stimuli; this leads, in turn, to impaired development and impaired functioning (e.g., disturbed parent–child interactions because of excessive crying). These disorders are classified into hypersensitive types (fearful-cautious and negative-defiant types), hyposensitive types (abnormally low responsiveness), and stimulation-seeking, impulsive types (11).

It is unclear up to what age one should still speak of a hypersensitive motor regulation disorder that manifests itself primarily in the parent–child relationship, and from what age onward one should consider the problem to be the onset of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (26). 1738 mothers of children aged 3–6 years who were attending preschool in Germany, when asked by questionnaire, characterized 10.8% of their children as noticeably hyperactive or inattentive (27), but the rate of reported hyperactivity declined markedly one year after the children (especially girls) began the first grade. These figures suggest that parents and teachers often overestimate preschool children’s normal capacity for motor regulation and are therefore also too quick to consider a child hyperactive. The true prevalence of ADHD in the preschool years, as diagnosed by standardized interviews in the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS), is 1.5% (e27). Hyperactive manifestations in the preschool years are “hard to distinguish from normal behavior, which is highly variable” (e5). A number of structured clinical interviews are now available for the diagnostic evaluation of preschool children, including the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment ([e28]; see also [e29]) and preschool-age questionnaires (e.g., the Connors Early Childhood Scales [e31] and, in German, Fremdbeurteilung für ADHS im Vorschulalter [e30]).

Simple disorders of regulation in infancy generally have a good prognosis (e32), but disorders affecting multiple regulatory systems are associated with the later development of externalizing and hyperkinetic disorders (28, 29). Preschool ADH manifestations persist into the school years in about 60–80% of cases (e33). The severity of manifestations, comorbidities, and the degree of impairment of executive function (e34), along with psychosocial risk factors (e2), are important predictors for persistent manifestations. Multiple efficacy studies have shown that parent training sessions aimed at improving pedagogical coping strategies with the child’s problem are effective and improve the long-term outcome (e35–e39). American trials of the treatment of preschool children with methylphenidate have shown that this is effective, but fraught with a high rate of side effects (e40, e41)

Affect disorders: anxiety and depression

Even in the first few months of life, children display various emotions, such as interest, satisfaction, or distress. By the end of the first year, the repertoire of emotional reactions is more finely grained, encompassing joy, satisfaction, annoyance, disgust, surprise, interest, and sadness (e42). At about the age of eight months, the infant begins to show anxiety more frequently. The regulation of affect, particularly in the first few months of life, is closely linked with the affects of the primary caregiver (usually the mother). Infants react to caregivers’ anxiety and depressive affects with marked behavioral and affective dysregulation (crying, protest, affective withdrawal) (30).

Children of mothers with post-partum depression often have cognitive and emotional deficits at an early age (e43). They often show a depressive affect in interactions with their mothers, and with other persons as well, which implies internalization of the depressive affect (31). Disturbed early relationships and a genetic predisposition to depression (e44) are causative factors for depression in later life. In a longitudinal study, Murray et al. showed that children of mothers with post-partum depression are more than three times as likely to suffer from depression themselves, with a 41.5% prevalence by age 16 (32).

Skovgaard et al. (2007) found some type of affective disorder (depressive mood, anxiety, or rage lasting at least two weeks) in 2.8% of a representative sample of 18-month-old Danish children (1). In an American epidemiological study, 10.5% of a sample of preschool children were found to be suffering from emotional disorders (anxiety and depression), and 2.1% met the diagnostic criteria for a depressive disorder (2). Klein et al. (2014) studied 1034 German preschool children whose manifestations were rated by their mothers: 5.8% were found to have signs of internalization beyond the pathological threshold, which remained moderately stable into school age. The prevalence of diagnosable depressive disorders rises with age; unlike the externalization disorders, these are roughly equally common in boys and girls (33).

Depression in preschool children is characterized by an irritable affect lasting more than two weeks. At this early age, affect disorders are only rarely persistent and uninterrupted, as they often are in adolescence and adulthood (Box 4). Special attention must be paid to play behavior: lack of desire to play, decision-making difficulties, and self-abasement can be early signs of depression (34). Subclinical depressive signs can also be significant even though they do not reach the threshold of a diagnosable depressive disorder, e.g., frequent tearfulness or irritability. Anxiety disorders in preschool children (prevalence, 7.7% [2]) are harder to distinguish from normal developmental anxiety; common varieties are separation anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, and phobic disorders. The combination of anxiety that impairs the child in everyday life together with clinically diagnosable or subclinical depression has been found to be a particularly worrisome constellation in preschool children (35).

Box 4

Symptoms of depression in preschool children

Diagnosis and treatment

As most of these disorders are highly complex, their diagnostic evaluation should be carried out by specialists (physicians, psychologists, etc.) and interdisciplinary teams that are experienced with patients in this age group (e45) (Boxes 5, 6). The evaluation should include an assessment of potential disorders along three axes—biological, social, and psychological. Once the evaluation has been concluded, a definite treatment plan should be developed, with the goal not only of treating the current problem but also of preventing its recurrence at a later age.

Box 5

Standards for psychiatric evaluation

Box 6

Methods of parent–child psychotherapy

Somatic factors, even if only mild, are highly relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders in early childhood. Motor abnormalities, linguistic deficits, and other specific developmental impairments must be recognized and treated appropriately, e.g., with speech therapy, physiotherapy, or ergotherapy. Disorders of regulation, in particular, may be caused or exacerbated by biological factors such as intrauterine exposure to nicotine or other harmful substances, metabolic disorders, congenital malformations, etc. (Box 7). Severely impaired physical development (e.g., a child who is underweight because of a feeding disorder) necessitates hospitalization in a parent–child setting. There is no evidence for the efficacy of psychotropic drugs in very young children (e46), nor have their potential side effects and long-term effects on the brain been studied. The social context of the disorder must be taken into account in its diagnostic evaluation and treatment. Signs of neglect, emotional deprivation, or other types of child abuse must not be overlooked. Psychotherapeutic interventions can help only if the child’s psychosocial life situation provides an adequate basis for normal mental development. In some cases, the child’s problem is best dealt with in collaboration with the local child welfare and child protection authorities.

Box 7

Warning signs that call for psychiatric evaluation and (potentially) intervention

The German-Speaking Association for Infant Mental Health (GAIMH) has proposed standards for the treatment of infants and toddlers in collaboration with their parents and other caregivers (www.gaimh.org). While patient guidance and counseling mainly involve the utilization of available resources and short-term, developmentally appropriate support as a preventive measure, psychotherapy is a scientifically informed method of treating children in collaboration with their parents and/or other caregivers, with the goal of curing, or at least alleviating, mental illness.

The current state of the evidence on psychotherapeutic interventions is presented in the Table. There have been only a few trials of specific methods of parent–child psychotherapy for children up to their third birthday. The methods studied are diverse, including behavioral (e47), psychoanalytic (36, e48, e49), and non-directive techniques (e50, e51). A Cochrane analysis (37) of eight different trials of group parent-training programs revealed an overall improvement of emotional and behavioral adjustment among the children in the intervention groups (e52). Disorder-specific treatment is available for children aged 3–6 (Table), although only a few studies provide evidence of efficacy specifically for this age group. The children themselves can be therapeutically addressed according to their verbal abilities, e.g., in patent–child interaction therapy with elements of behavioral and play therapy in externalizing (e53) or internalizing (38) disorders, or in short-term psychoanalysis for children with anxiety or depressive disorders (39).

Table

Psychotherapeutic interventions in children up to age 6

Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that no conflict of interests exists.

Manuscript received on 31 July 2014, revised version accepted
on 19 January 2015.

Translated from the original German by Ethan Taub, M.D.

Corresponding author
Prof. Dr. med. Kai von Klitzing
Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik des Kindes- und Jugendalters, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig AöR
Liebigstr. 20a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany

@For eReferences please refer to:
www.aerzteblatt-international.de/ref2115

References

1. Skovgaard AM, Houmann T, Christiansen E, et al.: The prevalence of mental health problems in children 1,5 years of age? The Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000. J Child Psychol & Psychiat 2007; 48: 62–70

2. Egger HL, Angold A: Common emotional and behavioral disorders in preschool children: presentation, nosology, and epidemiology. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2006; 47: 313–37

3. Wichstrøm L, Berg-Nielsen TS, Angold A, Egger HL, Solheim E, Sveen TH: Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in preschoolers. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2012; 53: 695–705

4. National Scientific Council on the Developing Child: The timing and quality of early experiences combine to shape bain architecture: Working paper 5. www.developingchild.harvard.edu (last accessed on 19 January 2015).

5. Roth G, Strüber N: Pränatale Entwicklung und neurobiologische Grundlagen der psychischen Entwicklunf. In: Cierpka M (ed.): Frühe Kindheit 0–3: Beratung und Psychotherapie für Eltern mit Säuglingen und Kleinkindern. Heidelberg: Springer 2012; 4–20.

6. Weaver ICG, Cervoni N, Champagne FA, et al.: Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior. Nat Neurosci Nat Neurosci 2004; 7: 847–54

7. Oberlander TF, Weinberg J, Papsdorf M, Grunau R, Misri S, Devlin AM: Prenatal exposure to maternal depression, neonatal methylation of human glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) and infant cortisol stress responses. Epigenetics 2014; 3: 97–106

8. Cierpka M (ed.): Frühe Kindheit 0–3: Beratung und Psychotherapie für Eltern mit Säuglingen und Kleinkindern. Heidelberg: Springer 2012.

9. Gontard Av: Säuglings- und Kleinkindpsychiatrie: Ein Lehrbuch. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 2010.

10. Task Force on Research Diagnostic Criteria: Infancy and Preschool: Research diagnostic criteria for infants and preschool children: the process and empirical support. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2003; 42: 1504–12

11. Zero toThree: DC:0–3R: Diagnostic classification of mental health and developmental disorders of infancy and early childhood. Revised edition. Washington D. C.: Zero to Three Press 2005.

12. Emde R, Spicer P: Experience in the midst of variation: New horizons for development and psychopathology. Dev Psychopathol 2000; 12: 313–31

13. Trevarthen C, Aitken KJ: Infant Intersubjectivity: Research, theory, and clinical applications. J Child Psychol & Psychiat 2001; 42: 3–48

14. Fonagy P, Gergely G, Jurist E, Target M: Affetregulierung, Mentalisierung und die Entwicklung des Selbst. Stuttgart: Klett- Cotta 2004

15. Largo RBC: Entwicklungsaufgaben und Krisen in den ersten Lebensjahren. In: Thun-Hohenstein (ed.): Übergänge: Wendepunkte und Zäsuren in der kindlichen Entwicklung. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht 2005; 75–88.

16. Tomasello M, Carpenter M, Liszkowski U: A new look at infant pointing. Child Dev 2007; 78: 705–22

17. Klitzing K von, Burgin D: Parental capacities fro triadic relationships during pregnancy: Early predictors of children’s behavioral and representational functioning at preschool age. Inf Mental Hlth J 2005; 26: 19–39

18. Perren S, Wyl A von, Stadelmann S, Burgin D, Klitzing K von: Associations between behavioral/emotional difficulties in kindergarten children and the quality of their peer relationships. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2006; 45: 867–76

19. Papoušek M, Schieche M, Wurmser H, Barth R: Regulationsstörungen der frühen Kindheit: Frühe Risiken und Hilfen im Entwicklungskontext der Eltern-Kind-Beziehungen. 2 nd edition. Bern: Huber 2010.

20. Klitzing K von: Reaktive Bindungsstörungen. Heidelberg: Springer 2009

21. Smyke AT, Koga SF, Johnson DE, et al.: The caregiving context in institution-reared and family-reared infants and toddlers in Romania. J Child Psychol Psyc 2007; 48: 210–8

22. Smyke AT, Zeanah CH, Gleason MM, et al.: A randomized controlled trial comparing foster care and institutional care for children with signs of reactive attachment disorder. Am J Psychiatry 2012; 169: 508–14

23. Bolten M, Möhler E, Gontard A von: Psychische Störungen im Säuglings- und Kleinkindalter. Regulations-, Fütter- und Schlafstörungen. Göttingen: Hogrefe 2013.

24. Chatoor I: Feeding disorders in infants and toddlers: diagnosis and treatment. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 2002; 11: 163–83

25. Zehetgruber N, Boedeker R, Kurth R, Faas D, Zimmer K, Heckmann M: Eating problems in very low birthweight children are highest during the first year and independent risk factors include duration of invasive ventilation. Acta Paediatr 2014; 103: e424

26. Connor DF: Preschool attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a review of prevalence, diagnosis, neurobiology, and stimulant treatment. J Dev Behav Pediatr 2002; 23: 1–9

27. Fuchs S, Klein AM, Otto Y, Klitzing K: Prevalence of emotional and behavioral symptoms and their impact on daily life activities in a community sample of 3 to 5-year-old children. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2013; 44: 493–503

28. Wolke D, Rizzo P, Woods S: Persistent infant crying and hyperactivity problems in middle childhood. Pediatrics 2002; 109: 1054–60

29. Becker K, Holtmann M, Laucht M, Schmidt MH: Are regulatory problems in infancy precursors of later hyperkinetic symptoms? Acta Paediatr 2004; 93: 1463–9

30. Keren M, Tyano S: Depression in der frühen Kindheit. Kinderanalyse 2007; 15: 305–26.

31. Field T: Postpartum depression effects on early interactions, parenting, and safety practices: A review. Infant Behav Dev 2010; 33: 1–6

32. Murray L, Arteche A, Fearon P, Halligan S, Goodyer I, Cooper P: Maternal postnatal depression and the development of depression in offspring Up to 16 years of age. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2011; 50: 460–70

33. Klein AM, Otto Y, Fuchs S, Zenger M, Klitzing K von: Psychometric properties of the parent-rated SDQ in preschoolers. Eur J Psychol Assess 2013; 29: 96–104

34. Luby J, Belden A: Depressive-symptom onset during toddlerhood in a sample of depressed preschoolers: Implications for future investigations of major depressive disorder in toddlers. Infant Ment Health J 2012; 33: 139–47

35. Klitzing K von, White LO, Otto Y, Fuchs S, Egger HL, Klein AM: Depressive comorbidity in preschool anxiety disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatr 2014; 55: 1107–16

36. Salomonsson B, Sandell R: A randomized controlled trial of mother-infant psychoanalytic treatment: I. Outcomes on self-report questionnaires and external ratings. Infant Ment Health J 2011; 32: 207–31

37. Barlow J, Smailagic N, Ferriter M, Bennett C, Jones H: Group-based parent-training programmes for improving emotional and behavioural adjustment in children from birth to three years old: Cochran Review: The Cochran Library 2012.

38. Luby J, Lenze S, Tillman R: A novel early intervention for preschool depression: findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2012; 53: 313–22

39. Göttken T, White LO, Klein AM, Klitzing K von: Short-term psychoanalytic child therapy for anxious children: A pilot study. Psychotherapy 2014; 51: 148–58

40. Hirshfeld-Becker DR, Masek B, Henin A, et al.: Cognitive behavioral therapy for 4- to 7-year-old children with anxiety disorders: a randomized clinical trial. J Consult Clin Psychol 2010; 78: 498–510

e1. Wurmser H, Laubereau B, Hermann M, Papoušek M, Kries R von: Excessive infant crying: often not confined to the first three months of age. Early Human Development 2001; 64: 1–6

e2. Becker K, Holtmann M, Laucht M, Schmidt MH: Are regulatory problems in infancy precursors of later hyperkinetic symptoms? Acta Paediatr 2004; 93: 1463–9

e3. Angold A, Egger HL: Preschool psychopathology: lessons for the lifespan. J Child Psychol & Psychiat 2007; 48: 961–6

e4. Egger HL, Erkanli A, Keeler G, Potts E, Walter BK, Angold A: Test-retest eliability of the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA). J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2006; 45: 538–49

e5. American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5): 5 th edition. Wahington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing 2013.

e6. Remschmidt H, Schmidt M: Multiaxiales Klassifikationsschema für psychische Störungen des Kindes- und Jugendalters nach ICD-10 der WHO. 3rd ed. Bern: Huber 1994.

e7. Stern D: The interpersonal world of the infant. New York: Basic Books 1985.

e8. Papousek H, Papousek M: Biological basis of social interactions: Implications of research for understanding of behavioural deviance. J Child Psychol Psyc 1983; 24: 117–29

e9. Spitz R: The first year of life. International Universities Press 1965.

e10. Largo RH: Die frühkindliche Entwicklung aus biologischer Sicht. München: Piper 2010.

e11. Mahler M: On human symbiosis and the vicissitudes of individuation. New York: International Universities Press 1968.

e12. Klein M: Das Seelenleben des Kleinkindes und andere Beiträge zur Psychoanalyse. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta 1962.

e13. Tremblay RE, Nagin DS, Seguin JR, et al.: Physical aggression during early childhood: trajectories and predictors. Can Child Adolesc Psychiatr Rev 2005; 14: 3–9.

e14. Fraiberg S, Adelson E, Shapiro V: Ghosts in the nursery. A psychoanalytic approach to the problems of impaired infant-mother relationships. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry 1975; 14: 387–421

e15. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Practice parameter for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with reactive attachment disorder of infancy and early childhood. J Am Acad Child Psy 2005; 44: 1206–19

e16. Bowlby J: Attachment and loss. I: Attachment. Dt.: Bindung. New York: Basic Books 1969.

e17. Ainsworth M, Blehard M, Waters E, Wall S: Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1978.

e18. Scheeringa M, Zeanah C, Drell M, Larrieu J: Two approaches to the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder in infancy and early childhood. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1995; 34: 191–200

e19. Wright CM, Parkinson KN, Shipton D, Drewett RF: How do toddler eating problems relate to their eating behavior, food preferences, and growth? Pediatrics 2007; 120: e1069–75

e20. Lindberg L, Bohlin G, Hagekull B: Early feeding problems in a normal population. Int J Eat Disord 1991; 10: 395–405

e21. Prasse JE, Kikano GE: An overview of pediatric dysphagia. Clinical Pediatrics 2009; 48: 247–51.

e22. Crapnell TL, Rogers CE, Neil JJ, Inder TE, Woodward LJ, Pineda RG: Factors associated with feeding difficulties in the very preterm infant. Acta Paediatr 2013; 102: e539

e23. Bryant-Waugh R, Markham L, Kreipe RE, Walsh BT: Feeding and eating disorders in childhood. Int J Eat Disord. 2010; 43: 98–111

e24. Robbins J, Coyle J, Rosenbek J, Roecker E, Wood J: Differentiation of normal and abnormal airway protection during swallowing using the penetration-aspiration scale. Dysphagia 1999; 14: 228–32

e25. Lindberg L, Ostberg M, Isacson I, Dannaeus M: Feeding disorders related to nutrition. Acta Paediatr 2006; 95: 425–9

e26. Micali N, Simonoff E, Treasure J: Infant feeding and weight in the first year of life in babies of women with eating disorders. J Pediatr 2009; 154: 55–60

e27. Schlack R, Hölling H, Kurth B, Huss M: Die Prävalenz der Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-/Hyperaktivitätsstörung (ADHS) bei Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland. Erste Ergebnisse aus dem Kinder- und Jugendgesundheitssurvey (KiGGS). Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz 2007; 50: 827–35

e28. Egger HL, Angold A: The Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA): A structured parent interview for The Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA): A structured parent interview for diagnosing psychiatric disorders in preschool children. In: DelCarmen-Wiggins R, Carter A, (ed. ) Handbook of infant and toddler mental assessment. New York: Oxford University Press 2004.

e29. Mingebach T, Roller A, Dalir S, Becker K, Pauli-Pott U: Spezifische und gemeinsame neuropsychologische Basisdefizite bei ADHS- und ODD-Symptomen im Vorschulalter. Kindheit und Entwicklung 2013; 22: 209–16

e30. Döpfner M, Lehmkuhl G, Steinhausen H: Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit- und Hyperaktivitätsstörung (ADHS). Göttingen: Hogrefe 2006.

e31. Conners C: Conners early childhood scales. New York: Multi-Health Systems, Inc. 2009.

e32. Stifter CA, Braungart J: Infant Colic: a transient condition with no apparent effects. J Appl Dev Psychol 1992; 13: 447–62

e33. Lahey BB, Pelham WE, Loney J, Lee SS, Willcutt E: Instability of the DSM-IV Subtypes of ADHD from preschool through elementary school. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2005; 62: 896–902

e34. Berlin L, Bohlin G, Rydell A: Relations between inhibition, executive functioning, and ADHD symptoms: a longitudinal study from age 5 to 8(1/2) years. Child Neuropsychol 2003; 9: 255–66

e35. Sonuga-Barke EJS, Koerting J, Smith E, McCann DC, Thompson M: Early detection and intervention for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Expert Rev Neurother 2011; 11: 557–63

e36. Charach A, Carson P, Fox S, Ali MU, Beckett J, Lim CG: Interventions for preschool children at high risk for ADHD: a comparative effectiveness review. Pediatrics 2013; 131: e1584–604.

e37. Daley D, Jones K, Hutchings J, Thompson M: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in pre-school children: current findings, recommended interventions and future directions. Child Care Health Dev 2009; 35: 754–66

e38. Laforett DR, Murray DW, Kollins SH: Psychosocial treatments for preschool-aged children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2008; 14: 300–10

e39. Murray DW: Treatment of preschoolers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2010; 12: 374–81

e40. Ghuman JK, Arnold LE, Anthony BJ: Psychopharmacological and other treatments in preschool children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: current evidence and practice. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2008; 18: 413–47

e41. Greenhill L, Kollins S, Abikoff H, et al.: Efficacy and safety of immediate-release methylphenidate treatment for preschoolers with ADHD. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2006; 45: 1284–93

e42. Izard CE, Huebner RR, Risser D, Dougherty L: The young infant’s ability to produce discrete emotion expressions. Developmental Psychology 1980; 16: 132–40

e43. Field T: Maternal depression effects on infants and early interventions. Prev Med 1998; 27: 200–3

e44. Apter-Levy Y, Feldman M, Vakart A, Ebstein RP, Feldman R: Impact of maternal depression across the first 6 years of life on the child’s mental health, social engagement, and empathy: The moderating role of oxytocin. Am J Psychiatry 2013; 170: 1161–8

e45. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Practice parameters for the psychiatric assessment of infants and toddlers (0–36 Months). J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1997; 36: 21–36

e46. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinder-und Jugendpsychiatrie PuP (Behandlung von depressiven Störungen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. AWMF Leitlinie (S3): 028–043. www.awmf.org/leitlinien/detail/ll/028–043.html (last accessed on 1 July 2014).

e47. McDonough S: Interaction guidance: Understanding and treating early infant- caregiver relationship disorders. In: Zeahnah C (ed.): Handbook of infant mental health. New York: Guilford Press 1993; 414–426.

e48. Robert-Tissot C, Cramer B, Stern D, et al.: Outcome evaluation in brief mother-infant psychotherapies: report on 75 cases. Inf Mental Hlth J 1996; 17: 97–114

e49. Baradon T: Psychoanalytische Psychotherapie mit Eltern und Säuglingen. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta 2011.

e50. Cohen N, Muir E, Lojkasek M: watch, wait and wonder: Ein kindzentriertes Psychotherapieprogramm zur Behandlung gestörter Mutter-Kind-Beziehungen. Kinderanalyse 2003; 11: 58–79.

e51. Cohen N, Muir E, Parker CJ, et al.: Watch, wait and wonder: Testing the effectiveness of a new approach to mother-infant psychotherapy. Inf Mental Hlth J 1999; 20: 429–51

e52. Barlow J, Parsons J, Stewart-Brown S: Preventing emotional and behavioural problems: the effectiveness of parenting programmes with children less than 3 years of age. Child Care Health Dev 2005; 31: 33–42

e53. Thomas R, Zimmer-Gembeck MJ: Behavioral outcomes of parent-child interaction therapy and triple P-positive parenting program: a review and meta-analysis. J Abnorm Child Psychol 2007; 35: 475–95

e54. Cooper PJ, Murray L, Wilson A, Romaniuk H: Controlled trial of the short- and long-term effect of psychological treatment of post-partum depression – 1. impact on maternal mood. Br J Psychiatry 2003; 182: 412–9

e55. Muir E, Lojkasek M, Cohen N: Watch, wait, and wonder. Toronto: Hincks-Dellcrest Denter 1999.

e56. Clark R, Tluczek A, Wenzel A: Psychotherapy for postpartum depression: A preliminary report. Am J Orthopsychiatry 2003; 73: 441–54

e57. Rapee RM, Kennedy SJ, Ingram M, Edwards SL, Sweeney L: Altering the trajectory of anxiety in at-risk young children. Am J Psychiatry 2010; 167: 1518–25

e58. Scheeringa MS, Weems CF, Cohen JA, Amaya-Jackson L, Guthrie D: Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in three-through six year-old children: a randomized clinical trial. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2011; 52: 853–60