Genetic Causes of Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) can be attributed to a number of causes- genetics, the external environment, or a neurological or chemical imbalance in the brain. However, many researchers over time have conducted detailed studies on the genetic causes of Social Anxiety Disorder, some of which have revealed some starting facts about the role of genetics in the development of this common psychological condition.
Studies Establishing the Genetic Causes of Social Anxiety Disorder
Though scientists are yet to find specific chromosomes that are linked to the genetic causes of Social Anxiety Disorder, they have stumbled upon the same in the case of other anxiety disorders like agoraphobia.
Various studies on the genetic causes of Social Anxiety Disorder have revealed that those who have an immediate relative suffering from SAD are 2-3 times more likely to develop this disorder, pegging the ‘heritability’ factor of this psychological problem to be as high as 30-40%, or, in other words, accounting for 1/3rd of a person’s underlying causes of SAD.
A 1999 scientific study titled ‘Fears and Phobias: Reliability and Heritability’, which was conducted on identical twins raised by different adoptive families, provided a startling revelation: that if one twin developed SAD during the course of his/her life, the other twin was 30-50% more likely than not to also suffer from this condition.
Another study called ‘Vulnerability Factors among Children at Risk for Anxiety Disorders’ in 1999 revealed that parents with clinical depression or an anxiety disorder were more likely to have children who would go on to suffer from SAD.
A 1997 research paper titled ‘Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders and Early Attachment’ indicated that infants who’d developed insecure attachments with their mothers were twice more susceptible to anxiety disorders and SAD during adolescence.
Other behavioral inhibitions during childhood, such as being extremely fearful or distressed around new people or in alien situations, may also be more likely to surface if the genetic predisposition to SAD already exists.
Jerome Kagan’s Research on the Genetic Causes of Social Anxiety Disorder
Harvard University’s Professor of Psychology, Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., conducted a revolutionary study that was the first of its kind to point to the genetic causes of Social Anxiety Disorder and establish the link between heredities and SAD.
In his research, Kagan had found that kids whose parent or parents were painfully shy or suffered from SAD themselves were more predisposed to this anxiety disorder. He studied a number of such children who were irritable as infants and later went on to become shy and inhibited toddlers, only to become very quiet, introverted, and ultimately, sociophobic adolescents over time.
During the course of his study to determine the genetic causes of Social Anxiety Disorder, Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., also discovered that socially anxious children, particularly those whose parents were also sociophobic to some degree, had a higher resting heart rate even in neutral situations or during phases of mild stress.
Conclusion
Though SAD, like other anxiety disorders, is complex and cannot merely be attributed to a single cause since it is often a combination of factors like external influences and experiences and chemical imbalances, the genetic causes of Social Anxiety Disorder cannot be ruled out if an individual suffering from SAD has a family history of this condition.
