On the basis of an analysis of the records of 673 children referred for in-patient psychiatric treatment, the majority of those having a history of pertussis in infancy, or asphyxia neonatorum, showed a characteristic behavior syndrome.The behavior syndrome consisted of the six following traits: Unpredictable variability in mood, hypermotility, impulsiveness, short attention span, fluctuant ability to recall material previously learned, and conspicuous difficulty with arithmetic in school.Each of these behavior traits occurred from once and a half to twice as frequently in patients with a history of asphyxia in infancy as in a control group.The syndrome, consisting of at least five of the six traits, occurred more than eight times as frequently in the patients with a history of asphyxia as in a control group.The syndrome occurred significantly more frequently in children with a history of pertussis when the illness occurred in the first three years of life rather than later.Since this behavior syndrome presents a serious handicap to successful social adjustment in later childhood, strenuous therapeutic efforts should be made toward eliminating asphyxia as a complication of illness in infancy.
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