title: Association of behavioral inhibition with hair pigmentation in a European sample.
abstract: Behavioral inhibition, a temperamental trait signalling a predisposition to childhood and adolescent anxiety disorders, is slightly more frequent in America among Caucasian children having blue irises. This paper examines a community sample of 101 German toddlers assessed for behavioral inhibition in a standardized laboratory procedure. Hair pigmentation was found to be significantly associated with behavioral inhibition in the sense that blond children exhibited higher fear scores. As in American samples, blue-eyed children had a higher fear score than did other children, but this difference was not statistically significant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Blumenstr. 8, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany. Eva_Moehler@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moehler
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kagan
authors.forename: Romuald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brunner
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wiebel
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Resch
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D005060:Europe; D005127:Eye Color; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006200:Hair Color / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D013694:Temperament