Attention bias toward threat in pediatric anxiety disorders

Amy Krain Roy, Roma A. Vasa, Maggie Bruck, Karin Mogg, Brendan P. Bradley, Michael Sweeney, R. Lindsey Bergman, Erin B. McClure-Tone, Daniel S. Pine, John T. Walkup, Golda S. Ginsburg, Anne Marie Albano, Bruce Waslick, Boris Birmaher, Dara Sakolsky, Satish Iyengar, Philip C. Kendall, Moira Rynn, John S. March, Scott N. ComptonJohn Piacentini, Jim McCracken, Joel Sherrill

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

174 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: To examine attention bias toward threat faces in a large sample of anxiety-disordered youths using a well-established visual probe task. Method: Study participants included 101 children and adolescents (ages 7-18 years) with generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and/or separation anxiety disorder enrolled in a multisite anxiety treatment study. Nonanxious youths (n = 51; ages 9-18 years) were recruited separately. Participants were administered a computerized visual probe task that presents pairs of faces portraying threat (angry), positive (happy), and neutral expressions. They pressed a response key to indicate the spatial location of a probe that replaced one of the faces on each trial. Attention bias scores were calculated from response times to probes for each emotional face type. Results: Compared to healthy youths, anxious participants demonstrated a greater attention bias toward threat faces. This threat bias in anxious patients did not significantly vary across the anxiety disorders. There was no group difference in attention bias toward happy faces. Conclusions: These results suggest that pediatric anxiety disorders are associated with an attention bias toward threat. Future research may examine the manner in which cognitive bias in anxious youths changes with treatment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1189-1196
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Volume47
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2008

Keywords

  • Anxiety disorders
  • Attentional bias
  • Threat

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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