Shy babies are at greater risk for anxiety later in life, but it's OK as long as mom and dad are there to protect you, new research asserts, according to Live Science.
Shy babies and toddlers without a secure bond with their caregivers are actually at risk for withdrawal and anxiety later on, Live Science said, attributing research published in the journal Child Development. A nurturing parent-child relationship gives children the confidence to explore and a home base to return to when something upsetting happens.
"For those [kids] that do show inhibition across many years, having a secure attachment could be really protective," said study researcher Erin Lewis-Morrarty, a research associate in child development at the University of Maryland, according to Live Science.
"Behavioral inhibition" is exhibited in 15 to 20 percent of children, researchers say. Reacting negatively to new stimuli is cited as a tell-tale sign of a child that has a higher risk of developing an anxiety disorder by age seven.
But, most shy kids grow up to be perfectly adjusted. How?
Parenting.
The study found that shy children between the ages of 14 months and 7 years old who did not have secure attachments to their caregivers were more likely to develop anxiety between 1 and 17 years of age. The children who had secure bonds (in the study, mostly to their mothers) were less likely to develop anxiety in their teens.
Lewis-Morrarty suggested that the parents' role in child development and the study of the bond could help identify at-risk children and teach parents how to bond with their babies.
