Shyness and inhibitory control in preschool dyads: An actor-partner model of social behavior.

The risk potentiation model of cognitive control posits that inhibitory control heightens children's risk for problematic outcomes in the context of shyness because it limits shy children's ability to engage flexibly with their environment. Although there is empirical support for the risk potentiation model, most studies have been restricted to parent report of children's outcomes and do not consider the influence of shyness and inhibitory control on other children's social behavior. In the present study, we used an actor-partner interdependence model to examine whether shyness and inhibitory control at Time 1 (N = 105, 52 girls, Mage = 3.50 years; 87% White; Mincome = between $75,000 and $100,000 in Canadian dollars) predicted children's own and their partner's observed social behavior with an unfamiliar peer at Time 2 (Mage = 4.76 years). When the child's own inhibitory control was high, the child's own shyness was negatively associated with their own approach behaviors but negatively associated with their partner's avoidance behaviors. However, when the child's own inhibitory control was low, the child's own shyness was unrelated to their own approach behaviors but positively associated with their partner's avoidance behaviors. Although inhibitory control was negatively associated with approach-related behavior for some shy children, this did not translate to more avoidance from the social partner. These results highlight the importance of examining the child's own behavior in addition to their partner's behavior when considering children's socioemotional development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

How biology shapes the development of shyness within specific contexts: A longitudinal, cross-lagged investigation.

Shyness is a temperamental trait that refers to fear and wariness in the face of social novelty and is known to have a biological basis. One proposed physiological correlate of shyness has been the change in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) from baseline to a stressor. However, past research linking shyness and RSA change has been mixed, which may be, in part, due to a failure to carefully consider the context under which RSA change is measured and the directionality of relations. Using a longitudinal design and cross-lagged analysis (N = 103, 52 girls), we examined parent-reported shyness and RSA change during a stranger approach task (social stressor) and a locked box task (nonsocial stressor) at ages 3 (Mage at Time 1 = 3.50 years, SDage = 0.19 years) and 4 (Mage at Time 2 = 4.76 years, SDage = 0.38). Cardiac vagal withdrawal during the stranger approach task, but not during the frustration task, at age 3 positively predicted shyness at age 4. Shyness at age 3 did not predict cardiac vagal change in either context at age 4. We also found that changes in RSA measured during the frustration task were stable across time, but changes in RSA measured during the stranger approach task were not stable across time, suggesting a developmental change in physiological regulatory systems to social threat. These results suggest that, although biology may come first in shaping children's behavior, this relation depends critically on the context and the incentives in the child's environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Developmental patterns of children's shyness: Relations with physiological, emotional, and regulatory responses to being treated unfairly.

The dysregulation of social fear has been widely studied in children's shyness, but we know little about how shy children regulate during unfair treatment. We first characterized developmental patterns of children's shyness (N = 304, ngirls = 153; 74% White, 26% Other) across 2 (Mage = 2.07), 3 (Mage = 3.08), 4 (Mage = 4.08), and 6 (Mage = 6.58) years of age. Data collection occurred from 2007 to 2014. At age 6, the high stable group had higher cardiac vagal withdrawal and lower expressed sadness and approach-related regulatory strategy than the low stable group when being treated unfairly. Although shy children may be more physiologically impacted by being treated unfairly, they may mask their sadness to signal appeasement.

iGen or shyGen? Generational Differences in Shyness.

Generation Z (1997-2012) has been characterized in the popular media as more socially inhibited, cautious, and risk averse than prior generations, but are these differences found between generations on an empirical level? And, if so, are these differences observable within generations in response to acute events such as the COVID-19 pandemic? Using a simplified time-lagged design to control for age effects, we examined between-group differences in self-reported shyness in young adult participants (N = 806, age: 17-25 years) at the same developmental age and university from the millennial generation (tested: 1999-2001; n = 266, Mage = 19.67 years, 72.9% female) and Generation Z (tested: 2018-2020), the latter generation stratified into prepandemic (n = 263, M = 18.86 years, 82.4% female) and midpandemic (n = 277, Mage = 18.67 years, 79.6% female) groups. After first establishing measurement invariance to ensure trustworthy group comparisons, we found significantly higher mean levels of shyness across each successive cohort, starting with millennials, through Generation Z before the pandemic, to Generation Z during the pandemic.

Shyness, inhibitory control, and social support seeking in preschoolers: Role of familiar and unfamiliar contexts.

The risk potentiation model of cognitive control posits that inhibitory control may heighten the risk for problematic outcomes among some temperamental styles characterized by high reactivity. Because shyness is a temperamental style defined as wariness and heightened reactivity to social novelty, we examined whether the interaction between shyness and inhibitory control predicted social support seeking differently depending on context using a between-subjects design. Typically developing preschoolers (N = 167, 52% female, Mage = 4.05 years, SDage = .77 years) were observed during a model building task that included a familiar (i.e., with their mother) or unfamiliar (i.e., with a novel adult female) social context. In the unfamiliar context, shyness was negatively associated with social support seeking at relatively high levels of inhibitory control, in line with the risk potentiation model of control. However, in the familiar context, we found that shyness was positively associated with social support seeking at relatively high levels of inhibitory control. These results suggest that high levels of inhibitory control may potentiate social fear for preschoolers who are also shy and that these relations may depend on contextual factors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Temperamental and physiological regulatory capacity in infancy: Links with toddler behavior problems.

Although correlates of temperamental regulatory processes in childhood have been well established, there is considerably less work examining correlates and moderators of rudimentary forms of temperamental regulation in infancy. We examined whether infants' physiological regulation indexed via changes in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) across phases of the Still-Face Paradigm moderated the association between maternal-reported infant regulatory capacity at 8 months (N = 50, Mage = 8.51 months, SDage = 0.28 months, 25 girls) and behavior problems at 14 months. We found that cardiac vagal regulation from baseline to still-face moderated the relation between infant regulatory capacity at 8 months and behavior problems at 14 months. Among infants who displayed relatively high cardiac vagal regulation from baseline to still-face, regulatory capacity was negatively associated with behavior problems. There was no relation between regulatory capacity and behavior problems among infants who displayed average or relatively low cardiac vagal regulation. We speculate that high levels of regulatory capacity and cardiac vagal regulation may allow infants to focus their attention outward and cope with emotionally evocative environmental demands as they arise even in the absence of external regulation provided by their caregivers.

Children's shyness and frontal electroencephalogram delta-beta correlation in the pediatric surgical setting.

The prospect of surgery is a unique psychologically threatening context for children, often leading to experiences of preoperative anxiety. Recent research suggests that individual differences in children's temperament may influence responses to the surgical setting. In the present study, we examined whether individual differences in shyness were related to differences in frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) delta-beta correlation, a proposed neural correlate of emotion regulation and dysregulation, among children anticipating surgery. Seventy-one children (36 boys, Mage  = 10.3 years, SDage  = 1.7 years) undergoing elective surgery self-reported on their own shyness, and their parents also reported on their child's shyness. Using a mobile, dry sensor EEG headband, frontal EEG measures were collected and self- and observer-reported measures of state anxiety were obtained at the children's preoperative visit (Time 1) and on the day of surgery (Time 2). A latent cluster analysis derived classes of low shy (n = 37) and high shy (n = 34) children using the child- and parent-reported shyness measures. We then compared the two classes on frontal EEG delta-beta correlation using between- and within-subjects analyses. Although children classified as high versus low in shyness had higher self- and observer-reported state anxiety across both time periods, frontal EEG delta-beta correlation increased from T1 to T2 only among low shy children using a between-subjects delta-beta correlation measure. We discuss the interpretation of a relatively higher delta-beta correlation as a correlate of emotion regulatory versus dysregulatory strategies for some children in a "real-world," surgical context.

Frontal EEG alpha-delta ratio and social anxiety across early adolescence.

Although the mean age of onset of social anxiety disorder (SAD) is during adolescence, we know relatively little about the neurodevelopmental correlates of subsyndromal social anxiety in early adolescence before SAD manifests. Here we examined frontal EEG alpha/delta ratio (a putative proxy of brain maturation) in relation social anxiety symptoms across early adolescence. Resting regional EEG spectral power measures were collected continuously for 4 min (2 min eyes-open, 2 min eyes-closed) in slow (i.e., delta) and fast (i.e., alpha) frequencies at Time 1, and self-reported social anxiety measures were collected concurrently at Time 1 and then prospectively approximately one year later (Time 2) in 103 typically developing 12- to 14-year-olds (46.6% female, Mage = 12.91 years, SDage = 0.81 years). Using a latent class growth curve analysis, stable high and stable low social anxiety classes were derived from the two assessments. Controlling for children's age, sex, and pubertal development, we found that youth in the stable high social anxiety class were more likely to exhibit a relatively lower frontal alpha/delta ratio, reflecting ostensibly less brain maturation relative to youth in the stable low social anxiety class. Results were specific to social anxiety and did not extend to symptoms of generalized anxiety. Findings are discussed in terms of the putative functions of less brain maturation in understanding individual differences in complex human social behavior.

Brain, interrupted: alpha/delta EEG ratio in survivors of pre- and post-natal adversity.

RESULTS: Young adults born at extremely low birth weight (prenatal adversity; N = 64, Mage = 23.14 years, SDage = 1.26 years) had a lower alpha/delta ratio score compared to normal birth weight controls (N = 76, Mage = 23.60 years, SDage = 1.09 years), while youth exposed to child maltreatment (postnatal adversity; N = 39, Mage = 16.18 years, SDage = 1.15) had a higher alpha/delta ratio compared to controls (N = 23, Mage = 16.00 years, SDage = 1.50 years). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that being exposed to pre- and post-natal adversity may have different long-term consequences on brain development. We speculate that these differences might be associated with some of the different functional outcomes known to characterize each type of adverse experience.

Negative Emotionality and Internalizing Behaviors in Preschool Children: Moderating Role of Inhibitory Control.

Negative emotionality in childhood is typically positively associated with internalizing behaviors, whereas inhibitory control is negatively associated with internalizing behaviors. Recent work, however, has also found that inhibitory control paradoxically increases risk for internalizing behaviors in the context of some reactive temperamental styles. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether inhibitory control moderated the association between negative emotionality and prospective internalizing behaviors in typically developing preschoolers (N = 104, 51 girls, Mage = 3.46 years, SDage = 0.19). We found that negative emotionality at T1 was only positively associated with internalizing behaviors at T2 in preschoolers with relatively higher inhibitory control. Our results suggest that relatively high levels of inhibitory control may be less adaptive for children who also have relatively high levels of negative emotionality. Findings are discussed in the context of cognitive overcontrol in understanding risk for internalizing behaviors before formal school entry.

Inhibitory control, dyadic social behavior, and mental health difficulties in preschoolers.

Although inhibitory control is typically associated with positive outcomes, several theoretical frameworks suggest that too little and too much inhibitory control may be problematic. Using a longitudinal, latent variable approach, we examined whether a multi-method index of inhibitory control at Time 1 (N = 105, 52 girls, Mage  = 3.50 years, 87% White) predicted observed social behavior with an unfamiliar peer and maternal report of preschoolers' mental health difficulties at Time 2 (Mage  = 4.76 years). Data collection occurred between 2017 and 2019. Inhibitory control displayed a U-shaped relation with prospective outcomes, where high and low levels of inhibitory control were associated with higher levels of avoidant social behaviors and mental health difficulties. The results are discussed in the context of under- and over-regulation in understanding individual differences in children's social behavior and mental health difficulties.

Longitudinal investigation of shyness and physiological vulnerability: Moderating influences of attention biases to threat and safety.

Shyness has long been identified as a vulnerability factor to developing psychosocial problems, but there is heterogeneity in these observed outcomes. One potential factor underlying these relations is individual differences in threat sensitivity. Using a longitudinal design, we examined whether attentional biases toward social threat and safety measured during adulthood moderated the association between shyness measured in emerging adulthood (N = 83, nfemale = 48; Mage = 23.56 years, SDage = 1.09 years) and frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry at rest, a physiological index of vulnerability to psychopathology, measured nearly a decade later in adulthood (Mage = 31.68 years, SDage = 2.27 years). We found that only biases to threat moderated the association between shyness and resting frontal EEG asymmetry longitudinally. In individuals who displayed relative vigilance to social threat, shyness was associated with greater relative right frontal EEG activity at rest (i.e., increased physiological vulnerability). These findings suggest that attentional biases to threat may play a role in understanding the relation between shyness and some known physiological vulnerabilities to psychopathology in adults.

Shyness and prosocial tendencies during adolescence: Prospective influence of two types of self-regulation.

Although children's self-regulation has been widely regarded as a panacea, there may be individual differences in the adaptiveness of self-regulatory processes depending on temperamental factors. We examined whether individual differences in two conceptually distinct types of self-regulation (i.e., emotion self-regulation, nonemotion self-regulation) moderated the association between shyness measured during late childhood (N = 1284; 49.8% girls, 84.1% White, mean parental education fell between associate's degree/diploma and undergraduate degree) and prosocial tendencies indexed approximately two years later during early adolescence. We found that children's shyness was negatively associated with adolescents' prosocial tendencies only at high levels of emotion self-regulation, and that shyness was positively related to prosocial tendencies only at low levels of nonemotion self-regulation. In the context of relatively higher levels of shyness, being "over" emotionally regulated may interfere with positive socioemotional outcomes. These findings may provide additional insight into the heterogeneity of self-regulation, and why some shy children may be reluctant to engage in prosocial acts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Approach-avoidance conflict and shyness: A developmental investigation.

One long-standing theoretical model of shyness proposes that the origins and maintenance of shyness are associated with an approach-avoidance motivational conflict (Asendorpf, 1990), such that shy individuals are motivated to socially engage (high approach motivation) but are too anxious to do so (high avoidance motivation). However, this model has not been empirically tested in predicting the development of shyness. In two separate longitudinal studies, we used the Carver and White (1994) Behavioral Inhibition and Activation System (BIS/BAS) scales as a proxy of approach-avoidance motivations and growth curve analyses to examine whether individual differences in these hypothesized motivational tendencies were associated with the development of shyness across 3 years from late childhood to adolescence (Study 1, N = 1284; 49.8% female, Mage = 10.72, SDage = 1.73, M level of parental education fell between associate's degree/diploma and undergraduate degree) and across nearly a decade from emerging adulthood to young adulthood (Study 2, N = 83; 57.8% females, Mage = 23.56 years, SDage = 1.09 years, 92.8% had at least a high school education). Contrary to the approach-avoidance conflict model of shyness, we found that a combination of high BIS/low BAS, not high BIS/high BAS, was associated with relatively higher shyness contemporaneously and across development in both studies. We discuss the processes that might link individual differences in approach-avoidance motivations to the development of shyness in adolescence and young adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Trajectories of behavioral avoidance in real time: Associations with temperament and physiological dysregulation in preschoolers.

Although excessive avoidance has been implicated in mental health problems and socioemotional difficulties, relatively little is known about dynamic changes of avoidance behaviors. We used a latent class growth analysis to examine the temporal course of avoidance behaviors in real time and determined whether the derived classes were distinguishable on temperament and physiological markers of regulation and reactivity (N = 153; Mage = 4.20 years). A three-class solution was found and identified a low, medium, and high increasing avoidance group. The high and increasing avoidance group had the highest physiological reactivity (cortisol reactivity) and shyness, and the lowest physiological regulation (i.e., respiratory sinus arrythmia suppression). High and increasing avoidance may therefore be associated with temperamental and physiological indices of risk implicated in maladjustment and highlight the value of data-driven, group-based approaches for examining dynamic patterns of behavior.

Temperamental Shyness, Frontal EEG Theta/Beta Ratio, and Social Anxiety in Children.

The authors examined how children's frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) theta/beta ratio-an index of neurocognitive control-changed from baseline to a social stressor, and whether these EEG changes moderated the relation between temperament and anxiety. Children (N = 152; Mage  = 7.82 years, 52% male, 81% White) had their EEG recorded during a baseline and speech anticipation condition. Children's frontal theta/beta ratio decreased from baseline to speech anticipation, and this baseline-to-task change moderated the relation between temperamental shyness and social anxiety. Temperamental shyness was related to higher state and trait social anxiety only among children with large baseline-to-task decreases in theta/beta ratio. Findings are consistent with theoretical models hypothesizing that temperamentally shy children with heightened neurocognitive control may be at greater risk for anxiety.

Development of shyness across adolescence: Reactivity, regulation, or both?

The reactivity-regulation model suggests that the origins and maintenance of shyness results from relatively high levels of reactivity in combination with relatively low levels of regulation. Although this model has received some empirical support, there are still issues regarding directionality of the relations among variables and a dearth of studies examining the joint influence of reactivity and regulation on the prospective development of shyness. Using a longitudinal design, we first examined whether the relations among reactivity, regulation, and shyness were unidirectional or bidirectional in a sample of 1284 children (49.8% female, 84.1% White; mean parental education fell between associate degree/diploma and undergraduate degree) assessed annually across three waves from late childhood and early adolescence (Mage = 10.72 years) to adolescence (Mage = 12.42 years) and then examined whether reactivity and regulation interacted to influence the development of shyness over time. At Wave 1, shyness was related to higher levels of reactivity and lower levels of regulation at Wave 2, but neither reactivity nor regulation at Wave 1 predicted shyness at Wave 2. At Wave 2, shyness predicted greater reactivity at Wave 3, but shyness at Wave 3 was only predicted by lower levels of regulation at Wave 2. Contrary to the reactivity-regulation model of shyness, we found that relatively high levels of reactivity and low levels of regulation predicted a steep decrease in shyness over 3 years. These results are discussed in the context of the socioemotional difficulties experienced by shy individuals and demonstrate the importance of empirically evaluating long-standing models of personality development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Revisiting the double-edged sword of self-regulation: Linking shyness, attentional shifting, and social behavior in preschoolers.

Although children's self-regulation has been conceptualized positively, there may be individual differences in self-regulatory processes, some of which might not be adaptive depending on temperamental factors. We examined whether individual differences in children's self-regulation (i.e., inhibitory control and attentional shifting) moderated the association between shyness and social behavior in multiple social contexts (N = 156 children, 74 girls; Mage = 4.06 years, SD = 0.78). Only in children with high attentional shifting was shyness associated with lower levels of social support seeking during a frustration task and with lower levels of social engagement during a stranger approach task. These results were not attributable to differences in baseline physiological arousal indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia. These findings suggest that for some shy children, high levels of self-regulation may be less adaptive, leading to rigidity or over-control in some social contexts, possibly hindering social interaction.

Psychophysiological influences on personality trajectories in adolescent females exposed to child maltreatment.

Although child maltreatment is a major public health concern, which adversely affects psychological and physical development, we know relatively little concerning psychophysiological and personality factors that may modify risk in children exposed to maltreatment. Using a three-wave, short-term prospective design, we examined the influence of individual differences in two disparate psychophysiological measures of risk (i.e., resting frontal brain electrical activity and respiratory sinus arrhythmia) on the trajectories of extraversion and neuroticism in a sample of female adolescents (N = 55; M age = 14.02 years) exposed to child maltreatment. Adolescents exposed to child maltreatment with relatively higher left frontal absolute alpha power (i.e., lower brain activity) at rest exhibited increasing trajectories of extraversion, and adolescents exposed to child maltreatment with relatively lower respiratory sinus arrhythmia at rest displayed increasing trajectories of neuroticism over 1 year. Individual differences in psychophysiological measures indexing resting central and peripheral nervous system activity may therefore differentially influence personality characteristics in adolescent females exposed to child maltreatment.

Shyness, Self-regulation, and Cognitive Problem Solving in Typically Developing 4-year-olds: A Pilot Study.

Because shy children are at risk for poor academic achievement, it is important to examine factors that contribute to variability in the relation between individual differences in shyness and cognitive functioning before school entry. The authors examined whether on-task facilitative private speech-a proxy of self-regulation-moderated the association between individual differences in shyness and performance on an executive function (EF) task in 52 typically developing 4-year-olds. They found that private speech interacted with shyness to predict performance on the EF task in girls but not in boys. More specifically, shyness was inversely related to EF task performance when girls used low amounts of regulatory private speech, but was positively related to performance when girls used high amounts of regulatory private speech. These preliminary findings are discussed in the context of implications for shy children in educational settings.