Attention to Threat as a Predictor of Shyness in the Context of Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

The duration of children's attention to putative threat has been documented as a consistent predictor of later anxiety in inhibited children across childhood (Fox, 2010; Perez-Edgar & Fox, 2005). However, attention to threat has not been broadly examined within existing behavioral contexts, and has seldom been studied in very early childhood. Whereas toddlers with high levels of internalizing behavior may view fear-inducing stimuli as a threat, toddlers with high levels of externalizing behavior may demonstrate attention out of interest or sensation seeking. Thus, attention to threat was expected to predict increased toddler shyness in the context of either high internalizing problems or low externalizing behavior. We examined 117 24-month-old toddlers to determine whether attention to threat interacted with internalizing and externalizing behavior at 24 months of age to predict toddler shyness one year later. Results indicated that attention to threat predicted toddlers' lower shyness at 36 months when toddlers' externalizing behavior at age 24 months were high, but there was no significant interaction between toddlers' internalizing behavior and their attention to threat in predicting later shyness. These results expand our understanding of the contexts in which attention to threat in early childhood is a viable predictor of later shyness.