Bumping heart and sweaty palms: physiological hyperarousal as a risk factor for child social anxiety

Background Physiological hyperarousal in social situations is a characteristic of individuals with social anxiety disorder ( SAD ), but so far it has been rarely studied as a biological risk for SAD . Here, we investigate whether children at high risk for SAD (because of their parents’ SAD ) display physiological hyperarousal while interacting with a stranger. Also, we examine whether early physiological hyperarousal is related to later child...