Stable Early Maternal Report of Behavioral Inhibition Predicts Lifetime Social Anxiety Disorder in Adolescence

• NCJ Number: 228712
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 48 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2009 Pages: 928-935
• Author(s): Andrea Chronis-Tuscano, Ph.D.; Kathryn Amey Degnan, Ph.D.; Daniel S. Pine, M.D.; Koraly Perez-Edgar, Ph.D.; Heather A. Henderson, Ph.D.; Yamalis Diaz, M.A.; Veronica L. Raggi, Ph.D.; Nathan A. Fox, Ph.D.
• Date Published: September 2009
• Length: 8 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01MH074454; R01 HD017899
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study used a prospective longitudinal design to determine whether stable early behavioral inhibition predicted the presence of psychiatric disorders and continuous levels of social anxiety in adolescents.

Abstract

The study provides evidence that maternal-reported stable behavioral inhibition (BI) across infancy and early childhood is associated with increased risk for clinically meaningful social anxiety disorder (SAD) diagnoses in adolescence. The finding has important implications for the early identification and prevention of social anxiety. Approximately 15 to 20 percent of children can be classified as behaviorally inhibited during early childhood. This temperamental style involves the tendency to show signs of fear, reticence, or wariness in response to unfamiliar situations and to withdraw from unfamiliar peers. This study extends existing literature examining temperament as a predictor of adolescent psychopathology by using multiple assessments for temperament in infancy and early childhood and following participants into adolescence, the period of greatest risk for SAD onset, and the point at which data demonstrate robust relatively stable trajectories or anxiety disorders into adulthood. Participants of the study consisted of 126 adolescents aged 14 to 16 years. Figure, tables, and references