From the article: A 7-year study of twins found that behavioral inhibition in childhood is associated with social anxiety in adolescence. Behavioral inhibition was primarily assessed through shyness. Parental stress and a number of other factors were found to influence the strength of this association. The study was published in Development and Psychopathology.

Behavioral inhibition is a property of one’s temperament that makes the person prone to withdrawing or reticence when faced with a novelty or threat. It is somewhat similar to shyness. However, shyness refers to feelings of discomfort in social situations, while behavioral inhibition affects the behavior in both social and nonsocial situations.

Behavioral inhibition has long attracted research interests in the field of mental health as it is seen as a “trait that biases reactions to later stressors in a way that can result in maladaptive behavioral patterns.” Childhood behavioral inhibition has also been reported to predict social anxiety in later years. This association is important, because anxiety disorders are among the leading causes of disability worldwide. They primarily affect 15–34-year-olds, with 8.6% of adolescents and 13% of adults meeting diagnostic criteria for the social anxiety disorder.