Social Fears in Children: The Roles of Parental Communication and Child Temperament

A recent longitudinal study by Zeytinoglu and colleagues (2025) provides insights into how parental verbal communication and child characteristics contribute to the transmission of social fears. The study shows the impact of both positive and negative maternal statements about ambiguous social situations, finding that positive comments were linked to reductions in children’s social fear beliefs, while negative comments predicted increases, especially among children who were behaviourally inhibited or had high anxiety.

The Role of Parental Communication in Passing on Social Anxiety

Social anxiety tends to run in families, but the mechanisms behind this pattern remain only partly understood (Eley et al., 2008; Lieb et al., 2000). Previous research has pointed to both genetic and environmental pathways, but one specific route that has received increasing attention is parental verbal communication. Research has shown that anxious adults tend to interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening (Butler & Mathews, 1983; Muris et al., 2010). This interpretive bias may lead parents to describe new experiences—such as meeting unfamiliar peers or joining new groups—in more threatening or cautionary terms. For example, parents with stronger fear beliefs are more likely to describe novel stimuli as negative and potentially dangerous, thereby passing on their own fears through conversation (Muris et al., 2010). This process has also been observed outside the lab. During the COVID-19 pandemic, several studies found that parents’ fear-related communication about the virus mediated the relationship between parental and child fear beliefs (Nimphy et al., 2023; Radanović et al., 2021; Uy et al., 2022; Remmerswaal & Muris, 2011). These findings underscore the role of parental language as a mechanism for transmitting social fears to children.

“Parental characteristics, particularly fear beliefs, may shape how parents talk to their children about uncertain or ambiguous social situations.”

How Child Traits Shape Responses to Parental Messages

At the same time, children are not passive recipients of their parents’ messages. Their own characteristics—especially behavioural inhibition (BI)—may affect both how parents behave and how children interpret what is said. BI is a temperament marked by fearful and avoidant responses to novelty, evident from early life (Fox et al., 2023). Longitudinal studies have shown that BI predicts specific parenting behaviours, such as increased overprotection (Buss et al., 2021), greater discouragement of independence (Rubin et al., 1999), and more negative responses to children’s distress (Kiel et al., 2021). Children’s BI may also influence how parents talk about social situations, further shaping children’s understanding of their social world.

Children’s own anxiety may also shape how they respond to the verbal information parents provide. From a diathesis-stress perspective, children who are behaviourally inhibited or anxious may be more sensitive to environmental cues like parental communication (Gazelle & Ladd, 2003; Gazelle & Rubin, 2019). Inhibited and anxious children tend to show heightened attention to threat (Pérez-Edgar et al., 2010) and greater emotional reactivity to negative cues (Gomez & Gomez, 2002). This means they may internalise parental warnings more deeply—or, as some research suggests, react more strongly to both negative and positive statements (Field, 2006; Field & Price-Evans, 2009). However, findings on whether anxious children are more responsive to threat, safety, or both types of cues are mixed (Aktar et al., 2022). This underscores the importance of examining how both early temperament and current anxiety symptoms moderate the effects of parental communication within the same children over time.

“Children’s early traits influence how they receive and respond to parental communication.”

What did this study involve?

In this study, Zeytinoglu et al. (2025) examined how mothers’ social fear beliefs shape the way they talk to their children about ambiguous social situations, and how this communication influences children’s own fear beliefs and behaviours. They also investigated whether these effects are moderated by child temperament and anxiety.

The longitudinal study followed 291 children from toddlerhood to age 10. Behavioural inhibition (BI) was assessed at ages 2 and 3 using a combination of behavioural observations and parent-reported measures (Fox et al., 2001). At age 10, mother–child pairs participated in a structured laboratory task. Mothers were presented with vignettes describing ambiguous social situations involving unfamiliar peers and were asked to discuss these scenarios with their child while being video-recorded.

Researchers coded the mothers’ verbal responses during the discussion, categorising statements as either positive or negative. Children completed measures of social fear beliefs before and after the conversation, participated in behavioural tasks assessing peer avoidance and interpretation bias, and self-reported on their social anxiety symptoms (Birmaher et al., 1999).

What did the researchers find?

The study found that maternal verbal communication played a mediating role in the link between mothers’ social fear beliefs and children’s post-conversation fear beliefs. When mothers made more positive statements, children tended to report a reduction in social fear beliefs. In contrast, more negative statements were associated with increased fear beliefs—particularly among children with higher anxiety levels (Zeytinoglu et al., 2025).

Children’s early temperament also appeared to shape these dynamics. Those who showed higher levels of BI in toddlerhood were more likely to have mothers who used fewer positive statements during the conversation. Meanwhile, children with higher anxiety symptoms were especially responsive to their mothers’ negative remarks.

The study also showed that children’s fear beliefs were reflected in their behaviour. Those who endorsed stronger social fears after the conversation were more likely to avoid unfamiliar peers in symbolic ways—such as sitting farther away during classroom-like tasks—and to interpret ambiguous social situations more negatively (Gazelle & Ladd, 2003).

Together, these findings suggest that both parental communication and child characteristics contribute to how social fears develop and are maintained over time (Aktar et al., 2022; Field, 2006).

What are the implications?

The findings offer valuable insights for clinicians and others working with children who experience social anxiety. Encouraging parents to use more positive language when discussing social situations may help reduce the risk of children developing or reinforcing fearful beliefs.  Even modest shifts in how parents describe new or uncertain experiences could support children in interpreting social cues in a more flexible and less threatening way.

At the same time, it’s also important to recognise that children may respond differently depending on their temperament and current levels of anxiety. Identifying which children are more vulnerable to these influences could help tailor support in ways that meet each family’s specific needs.

Conclusions

The findings from Zeytinoglu et al. (2025) suggest that social fears in children may develop through a subtle interplay between how parents talk about social situations and children’s own temperamental and emotional traits. While parental language can influence children’s beliefs and behaviours, the child’s level of behavioural inhibition or anxiety may shape how these messages are received. For clinicians and caregivers, gently encouraging more supportive and less fear-based ways of communicating—while being mindful of each child’s unique sensitivities—could be one helpful step in reducing the likelihood of social fear. Further research into these complex dynamics may continue to inform more responsive and developmentally aware approaches.

Where next?

This conference, led by Dr. Koraly Pérez-Edgar, McCourtney Professor of Child Studies at Penn State University, will explore how early-emerging temperament, particularly behavioral inhibition, can influence children’s long-term social and emotional development.

Drawing on extensive longitudinal research and neuroscience, Dr. Pérez-Edgar will show how patterns of vigilance and avoidance in infancy interact with attention and emotion regulation to shape risk for social anxiety. She will highlight how individual differences in these early processes offer key opportunities for intervention.

Designed for researchers and practitioners alike, this session will balance cutting-edge science with practical implications, leaving the audience with a deeper understanding of how early traits can shape lifelong outcomes and how we can intervene.

Use the interactive programme below to gain an overview of the topic, meet the speaker, test your knowledge, and a whole lot more!