An investigation into the relationship between dimensions of infant temperament and lifespan psychological development.

在这份提案中，我概述了一个创新的多学科博士项目，调查婴儿气质在行为，遗传和认知水平上影响寿命发展的作用。现有的研究已经探索了这些关系，但缺乏足够有力的纵向研究，延伸到成年。这项研究需要进一步了解心理健康特征出现所涉及的发展过程，这可以为早期干预提供信息。婴儿气质包括冲动、行为抑制和依恋紊乱等维度。它可以被广泛地理解为在很小的年龄就观察到的行为和情绪反应的个体差异。这些气质特征随着时间的推移是适度稳定的，并且受到遗传和环境因素的强烈影响（Papageorgiou &罗纳德，2017; Rettew & McKee，2005; Tang et al.，2020年）。早期气质也已被证明与成年后的人格维度有关（Caspi等人，2003）和某些维度与儿童精神病理学有关（Sayal，Heron，Maughan，Rowe，& Ramchandani，2014）。关于婴儿气质与后期精神病理学之间联系的证据主要限于儿童期和青春期的结果，然而，关于成年期结果的研究很少，重点是寿命发展。一个值得注意的例外是Tang et al.（2020）的纵向队列研究，该研究表明婴儿气质与精神病理学之间的关系可以从青春期延伸到成年期。作者发现，1岁以下婴儿的行为抑制可以预测26岁时内化精神病理学（焦虑和抑郁）的后期发展。虽然这项研究有局限性，例如小样本和异质性（26年随访时n=109），但它为拟议的研究提供了概念验证，该研究将调查相同的纵向轨迹，但样本量更大，心理健康特征结果范围更广，例如精神病经历，注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）和自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）。

In this proposal, I outline an innovative multidisciplinary PhD project investigating the role of infant temperament in influencing lifespan development at the behavioural, genetic and cognitive level. Existing research has explored these relationships, but adequately powered longitudinal studies that extend to adulthood are lacking. This research is needed to further the understanding of the developmental processes involved in the emergence of mental health traits, which can inform early interventions. Infant temperament includes dimensions such as surgency, behavioural inhibition and attachment disorganisation. It can be understood broadly as individual differences in behavioural and emotional reactivity observed at a very young age. These temperamental traits are moderately stable over time and are influenced strongly by genetic and environmental factors (Papageorgiou & Ronald, 2017; Rettew & McKee, 2005; Tang et al., 2020). Early temperament has also been shown to be related to dimensions of personality in adulthood (Caspi et al., 2003) and certain dimensions have been linked to childhood psychopathology (Sayal, Heron, Maughan, Rowe, & Ramchandani, 2014). Evidence relating to the connection between infant temperament and later psychopathology is largely limited to outcomes in childhood and adolescence, however, with little research concerning outcomes in adulthood, focusing on lifespan development.One notable exception to this is a longitudinal cohort study by Tang et al. (2020) which demonstrated that the relationship between infant temperament and psychopathology can extend beyond adolescence into adulthood. The authors found that behavioural inhibition in infants younger than 1 year old can predict the later development of internalising psychopathologies (anxiety and depression) at 26 years of age. Although this research had limitations, such as a small and heterogeneous sample (n=109 at 26-year follow-up), it provides a proof-of-concept for the proposed research, which will investigate the same longitudinal trajectory but with larger samples and a broader scope of mental health trait outcomes, e.g. psychotic experiences, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).