Abstract
BACKGROUND: Early temperament has been shown to predict socioemotional outcomes, but its neural correlates are not yet fully understood. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between early temperament and neuronal network functional connectivity (FC), and how these factors contribute to the risk of psychopathology. METHODS: Using a longitudinal cohort followed from infancy to age 7 (N = 749 collected at infancy), we assessed temperament through two approaches: data-driven profiles extracted from parent-reported questionnaires collected from infancy to age 3 and lab-based assessments of behavioral inhibition (BI) at age 3. Symptoms of psychopathology were measured at age 7 with the parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Resting-state EEG data collected at ages 3, 5, and 7, along with source-space connectivity methods, were used to examine FC within brain networks. RESULTS: Children with an emotionally and behaviorally dysregulated (EBD) profile, an identified risk factor for psychopathology, exhibited reduced FC in the frontoparietal network compared to their emotionally and behaviorally regulated (EBR) peers. BI at age 3 was also negatively correlated with FC in the ventral attention network at age 3 and the frontoparietal network at age 7. Additionally, frontoparietal FC moderated the relationship between early temperament and later attention-deficit symptoms: EBD children showed higher levels of attention problems than their EBR peers, but only when frontoparietal FC was low. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the importance of network connectivity in understanding early temperament and its socioemotional outcomes. Specifically, they highlight the role of attention and control networks in the development of psychopathology, suggesting potential targets for early interventions aimed at at-risk children.