Early motor developmental milestones and level of neuroticism in young adulthood: a 23-year follow-up study of the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort

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Studies investigating early developmental factors in relation to psychopathology have mainly focused on schizophrenia. The personality dimension of neuroticism seems to be a general risk factor for psychopathology, but evidence on associations between early developmental precursors and personality traits is almost non-existent. This study is therefore the first to investigate associations between early motor developmental milestones and neuroticism in adulthood. Method Mothers of 9125 children of the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort recorded 12 developmental milestones during the child's first year of life. A subsample of the cohort comprising 1182 individuals participated in a follow-up when they were aged 20-34 years and were administered the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Associations between motor developmental milestones and level of neuroticism, extraversion and psychoticism were analysed by multiple linear regression adjusting for for sex, single-mother status, parity, mother's age, father's age, parental social status and birth weight.
Original languageEnglish
JournalPsychological Medicine
Volume43
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)1293-301
Number of pages9
ISSN0033-2917
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2013

ID: 49982069