| Abstract: | Investigated the association between shyness and symptoms of illness in young children and the types of symptoms differentiating shy and nonshy children. 16 shy children and 16 nonshy children (mean age 7 yrs 3 mo) were matched on sex, parental education, familial stress, and height-weight ratio. For 4 wks, parents recorded their children's health complaints and their own observations and conclusions of their children's health. There were more days on which shy children complained of unwellness and parents observed symptoms of unwellness than for nonshy children. Shy children made more affective complaints and were observed to experience more gastrointestinal upset. Several interpretations of the results are presented including the possibilities that lower thresholds for arousal in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes of shy children affected their immunocompetence, that parents of shy children and the children themselves were more sensitive to symptoms of illness, and that feeling unwell may contribute to shy behaviour. Results suggest that the health of shy children merits further study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
