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Threat bias in attention orienting: evidence of specificity in a large community-based study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2012

G. A. Salum ,
K. Mogg ,
B. P. Bradley ,
A. Gadelha ,
P. Pan ,
A. C. Tamanaha ,
T. Moriyama ,
A. S. Graeff-Martins ,
R. B. Jarros  and
G. Polanczyk
...Show all authors
G. A. Salum*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
K. Mogg
Affiliation:
Southampton University, Southampton, UK
B. P. Bradley
Affiliation:
Southampton University, Southampton, UK
A. Gadelha
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
P. Pan
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
A. C. Tamanaha
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
T. Moriyama
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
A. S. Graeff-Martins
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
R. B. Jarros
Affiliation:
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
G. Polanczyk
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
M. C. do Rosário
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
E. Leibenluft
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
L. A. Rohde
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
G. G. Manfro
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Brazil Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
D. S. Pine
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr G. A. Salum Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Ramiro Barcelos, 2350, room 2202, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 90035-003. (Email: gsalumjr@gmail.com)
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Abstract

Background

Preliminary research implicates threat-related attention biases in paediatric anxiety disorders. However, major questions exist concerning diagnostic specificity, effects of symptom-severity levels, and threat-stimulus exposure durations in attention paradigms. This study examines these issues in a large, community school-based sample.

Method

A total of 2046 children (ages 6–12 years) were assessed using the Development and Well Being Assessment (DAWBA), Childhood Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and dot-probe tasks. Children were classified based on presence or absence of ‘fear-related’ disorders, ‘distress-related’ disorders, and behavioural disorders. Two dot-probe tasks, which differed in stimulus exposure, assessed attention biases for happy-face and threat-face cues. The main analysis included 1774 children.

Results

For attention bias scores, a three-way interaction emerged among face-cue emotional valence, diagnostic group, and internalizing symptom severity (F = 2.87, p < 0.05). This interaction reflected different associations between internalizing symptom severity and threat-related attention bias across diagnostic groups. In children with no diagnosis (n = 1411, mean difference = 11.03, s.e. = 3.47, df = 1, p < 0.001) and those with distress-related disorders (n = 66, mean difference = 10.63, s.e. = 5.24, df = 1, p < 0.05), high internalizing symptoms predicted vigilance towards threat. However, in children with fear-related disorders (n = 86, mean difference = −11.90, s.e. = 5.94, df = 1, p < 0.05), high internalizing symptoms predicted an opposite tendency, manifesting as greater bias away from threat. These associations did not emerge in the behaviour-disorder group (n = 211).

Conclusions

The association between internalizing symptoms and biased orienting varies with the nature of developmental psychopathology. Both the form and severity of psychopathology moderates threat-related attention biases in children.

Keywords

Anxietyattentioncognitionemotionphobias
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , April 2013 , pp. 733 - 745
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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