In children, an anxious temperament can be a warning sign. Kids who are painfully shy and nervous are more prone to anxiety disorders and depression later in life, and they?re more likely to self-medicate with alcohol and other drugs. But what causes a child to have an anxious temperament in the first place? A new study with monkeys finds that an anxious temperament is partly heritable and that it?s tied to a particular brain region involved in emotion.
Children with an anxious temperament often freeze up when they meet a stranger or encounter a social situation they perceive as threatening, says Ned Kalin, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.