Early childhood irritability and tantrums linked to future depression and self-harm

Children whose irritability does not reduce between three and seven years are at higher risk of depression and self-harm as teenagers, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The new findings, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ( JAACAP ), suggest that interventions helping parents and caregivers to support children with high irritability could help to reduce the future risk of mental illness. Irritability and tantrums are normal during early childhood and parents sometimes refer to this age group as the 'terrible twos' and 'threenagers'. For most children, irritability improves as they grow older. However, some children continue to struggle with irritability and behavioural outbursts as they grow older. Although previous research showed that irritability in later childhood increased the risk of future depression, it was not known whether irritability during early childhood is similarly important. Identifying a marker for increased risk earlier would provide a greater opportunity for devising interventions that could prevent mental health problems later on.