Infants with colic: their childhood characteristics.

The purpose of this study was to compare 40 six- to eight-year-old children, 20 with prospectively ascertained infantile colic and a matched sample of 20 without colic, on characteristics of emotional regulation and on parent stress. Children completed tests of cognitive ability, and mothers completed childhood behavioral questionnaires and a parenting stress assessment. Children with colic had maternal ratings suggestive of more difficulty with emotional regulation than their noncolic matches and displayed a more impulsive cognitive style. However, the mean scores of both groups were in the normal range. Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.