Changing the Environment to Improve the Outlook

An Interview with Council Member Nathan A. Fox

What other kinds of situations trigger fearfulness?

Our latest research demonstrates that if the mother of a child with this predisposition says she has very little social support in her life, then her child is more likely to be more fearful and anxious. However, if a child has this predisposition, but the mother says she has lots of support, and that her stress is manageable, then that child is less likely to be fearful and anxious.

Our recent study looked at children between the ages of four and seven. We obtained genetic data on them at age four, and also gave the mom a questionnaire and asked her about her social support and stress. At age seven, we put the child in a room with three other children the child’s age and observed the interaction. We found that if the child had a variant of a particular gene and the mom reported low social support and stress, then the child was fearful at age seven. If the child had this variant of gene, but the mother said she had good social support and no problem with stress in her life, the child was not fearful. It was only the combination of the gene and stress in the mother’s environment that led to the fearfulness.

What’s even more interesting about our study of gene-environment interaction is that it focuses on a group of typically developing children. Most studies that have looked at gene-environment interaction have studied clinical samples. For example, previous studies looked at adolescents with depression or children with a history of abuse and neglect. This is the first paper to come out on gene-environment interaction that looks at normally developing children.

In short, if a mom is well-supported, her kids will do well even if they are genetically predisposed to fearfulness.

In addition to lowering the stress level for parents, what interventions are helpful?

We can strengthen the child’s brain architecture to raise the threshold for novelty; to not be overly sensitive to new experiences. Teachers should be aware that children with this genetic predisposition who live in an atmosphere of stress are not going to pop up on a radar screen. Why? Because these children are not disruptive, not aggressive and not participatory. They’re not likely to raise their hands in class or otherwise draw attention to themselves. Teachers need to identify these children, and help them ­engage and interact in the classroom. In the context of the classroom, teachers need to make sure these fearful children are not ignored or picked on by other children.

In addition, helping these children overcome their susceptibility to fearfulness requires the thoughtful and supportive introduction of new places and faces. If such children are not exposed to new situations that strengthen their foundation of experience, they stay fearful. We conducted another study that compared children who remain at home with children who had gone to infant daycare. The children who went to daycare and who started with this fearful disposition became less fearful over time. For whatever reason, daycare actually led to a reduction of fearful responses, while staying at home led to an increase. One important consideration is participation in group activities, such as sports. Group activities can help affect physical and intellectual development, and can build self-confidence in these children.

What happens if these interventions aren’t in place?

The reason these supportive strategies are important is because children who are temperamentally fearful have a hard time reacting to their peers. These children are often the victims of bullying. Because these children are temperamentally fearful, they stay in the background, as I mentioned, and teachers don’t notice them. While they don’t get noticed for being disruptive, they also don’t get noticed for their lack of participation or interaction with other children in the classroom. This continues the cycle of vulnerability for the temperamentally fearful child.

For information about commonly used terms in Council publications, see Definitions.