Sorcher LK, Goldstein BL, Finsaas MC, et al. - Preschool irritability is identified as clinically significant and to have predictive utility for identification of psychiatric disorders and functional impairment assessed in adolescence.

• Assessment of a total of 453 children was done at age three and again at ages 12 and/or 15.

• Analysis revealed predictive value of irritability at age three for internalizing and externalizing disorders in adolescence, parent-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms, and greater functional impairment, including poorer peer functioning and physical health, and antidepressant and educational service use; this was observed even after controlling for baseline psychiatric disorders.

• Further adjusting for well-established early life risk markers for psychopathology did not affect any of the longitudinal associations.