INFANTILE COLIC - ACOUSTIC CRY CHARACTERISTICS, MATERNAL PERCEPTION OF CRY, AND TEMPERAMENT

Mothers (N = 160) participating in a longitudinal study were interviewed to determine if their infants had colic. Infants with colic had to meet the criteria for excessive crying (crying for more than 3 hours a day, 3 days a week, for 3 weeks) plus show the following during episodes of colic: paroxysmal onset of cry, distinctive, high-pitched pain cry, infant is inconsolable and hypertonic. Sixteen 1- to 4-month-old infants who met the criteria for colic were compared with matched controls (N = 16) on the acoustic analysis of the infants cry, on parent's perception of cry using eight standard rating scales, and on the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire measure of temperament. The cries of colic infants had a higher and more variable pitch and showed more turbulence. Parents rated the cries of these infants as more urgent, grating, piercing, and felt more sad and aroused by the cries. On the infant Characteristics Questionnaire, colic infants scored higher on the fussy-difficult temperament dimension. Infants with colic show distinctive acoustic cry characteristics that are perceived by parents; parents rate these infants as having a more difficult temperament. Colicky infants appear to be a subset of infants with excessive crying and can be identified using clinical criteria.