Researchers are finding that genetic and environmental factors, frequently in interaction with one another, are risk factors for anxiety disorders. Specific factors include:
- ➣ Shyness, or behavioral inhibition, in childhood
- ➣ Being female
- ➣ Having few economic resources
- ➣ Being divorced or widowed
- ➣ Exposure to stressful life events in childhood and adulthood
- ➣ Anxiety disorders in close biological relatives
- ➣ Parental history of mental disorders
- ➣ Elevated afternoon cortisol levels in the saliva (specifically for social anxiety disorder)
