Although irritability and sadness are cardinal symptoms of depression, they are also common in preschoolers. The daily experiences of these emotions are not well-understood during early childhood, yet may provide insight into identification of early depressive symptoms. The current longitudinal study examined daily mean levels and emotion dynamics of preschool-aged children’s irritability and sadness and psychiatric outcomes in early school-age. Parents (n = 291) completed 14 consecutive daily diaries about their preschoolers’ emotions. Two years later, parents (n = 164) completed a semi-structured clinical interview and questionnaires about their children’s psychological functioning. Strong correlations between mean and dynamic measures (rs = 0.65–0.91) were identified. Preschoolers’ mean daily levels and dynamics of irritability (variability, instability, inertia) and sadness (instability, inertia) predicted symptoms and impairment 2 years later. Sadness instability and inertia continued to predict difficulties after adjusting for mean daily sadness. Fine-grained daily measures of preschoolers’ affect may be help identify children at-risk for psychological problems.

虽然烦躁和悲伤是抑郁症的主要症状，但它们在学龄前儿童中也很常见。这些情绪的日常体验在儿童早期还没有得到很好的理解，但可以提供对早期抑郁症状识别的洞察力。目前的纵向研究检查了学龄前儿童在学龄早期的烦躁和悲伤以及精神状况的每日平均水平和情绪动态。父母 ( n  = 291) 完成了 14 份关于学龄前儿童情绪的每日日记。两年后，父母 ( n  = 164) 完成了关于孩子心理功能的半结构化临床访谈和问卷调查。平均值和动态测量之间的强相关性 ( rs = 0.65–0.91) 被确定。学龄前儿童的平均每日水平和易怒（易变、不稳定、惰性）和悲伤（不稳定、惰性）的动态可预测 2 年后的症状和损害。在调整平均每日悲伤后，悲伤不稳定性和惰性继续预测困难。对学龄前儿童的影响进行细粒度的日常测量可能有助于识别有心理问题风险的儿童。