Persistent Infant Comfort Habits and Their Sequelae at 11 and 16 Years

This paper examines whether relationships can be demonstrated between specific infantile comfort habits and later personality development. Indications of aspects of personality at 11 and 16 yr were derived from structured, but open-ended, interviews with the children's mothers. Some reliable statistical associations are shown, and these are maintained even when allowance is made for sex, social class and family size differences in the two samples. They suggest that children with a persistent oral habit at 4 yr may later be less 'well-adjusted' emotionally and more difficult for their parents to influence and control than other children. Possible interpretations are discussed.