ABSTRACT
Social phobia is a chronic, debilitating disorder, affecting 7 to 13% of individuals, and is characterised by intense fear of scrutiny and negative evaluation by others (Yonkers, Dyck, & Keller, 2001). Little is known about its aetiology (e.g., Rapee & Spence, 2004). Disturbances in social information processing, particularly of faces and emotional expressions, have been implicated in the maintenance of social phobia in both adults (e.g., Bögels & Mansell, 2004) and children (e.g., Hadwin et al., 2003; Stirling, Eley, & Clark, 2006); yet, whether they are of aetiological significance is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate early characteristics of processing of faces and emotional expressions in infants at risk of social phobia.
