Longitudinal associations between the infant gut microbiome and negative affect in toddlerhood

The role of the gut microbiome in infant development has gained increasing interest in recent years. Most research on this topic has focused on the first three to four years of life because this is a critical period for developing gut-brain connections. Prior studies have identified associations between the composition and diversity of the gut microbiome in infancy and markers of temperament, including negative affect. However, the specific microbes affected, and the directionality of these associations have differed between studies, likely due to differences in the developmental period of focus and assessment approaches. In the current preregistered study, we examined connections between the gut microbiome, assessed at two time points in infancy (2 weeks and 18 months), and negative affect measured at 30 months of age in a longitudinal study of infants and their caregivers. We found that infants with higher gut microbiome diversity at 2 weeks showed more observed negative affect during a study visit at 30 months. We also found evidence for associations between specific genera of bacteria in infancy and negative affect. These results suggest associations between specific features of the gut microbiome and child behavior may differ based on timing of gut microbiome measurement.