Margaret J Briggs-Gowan1, Seth D Pollak2, Damión Grasso1, Joel Voss3, Nicholas D Mian4, Elvira Zobel3, Kimberly J McCarthy1, Lauren S Wakschlag5, Daniel S Pine6. 1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA. 2. Department of Psychology and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA. 3. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. 4. Department of Psychology, Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. 5. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. 6. Division of Intramural Research Programs, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Attention bias toward threat is associated with anxiety in older youth and adults and has been linked with violence exposure. Attention bias may moderate the relationship between violence exposure and anxiety in young children. Capitalizing on measurement advances, this study examines these relationships at a younger age than previously possible. METHODS: Young children (mean age 4.7, ±0.8) from a cross-sectional sample oversampled for violence exposure (N = 218) completed the dot-probe task to assess their attention biases. Observed fear/anxiety was characterized with a novel observational paradigm, the Anxiety Dimensional Observation Scale. Mother-reported symptoms were assessed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment and Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children. Violence exposure was characterized with dimensional scores reflecting probability of membership in two classes derived via latent class analysis from the Conflict Tactics Scales: Abuse and Harsh Parenting. RESULTS: Family violence predicted greater child anxiety and trauma symptoms. Attention bias moderated the relationship between violence and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Attention bias toward threat may strengthen the effects of family violence on the development of anxiety, with potentially cascading effects across childhood. Such associations maybe most readily detected when using observational measures of childhood anxiety.
BACKGROUND: Attention bias toward threat is associated with anxiety in older youth and adults and has been linked with violence exposure. Attention bias may moderate the relationship between violence exposure and anxiety in young children. Capitalizing on measurement advances, this study examines these relationships at a younger age than previously possible. METHODS: Young children (mean age 4.7, ±0.8) from a cross-sectional sample oversampled for violence exposure (N = 218) completed the dot-probe task to assess their attention biases. Observed fear/anxiety was characterized with a novel observational paradigm, the Anxiety Dimensional Observation Scale. Mother-reported symptoms were assessed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment and Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children. Violence exposure was characterized with dimensional scores reflecting probability of membership in two classes derived via latent class analysis from the Conflict Tactics Scales: Abuse and Harsh Parenting. RESULTS: Family violence predicted greater childanxiety and trauma symptoms. Attention bias moderated the relationship between violence and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Attention bias toward threat may strengthen the effects of family violence on the development of anxiety, with potentially cascading effects across childhood. Such associations maybe most readily detected when using observational measures of childhood anxiety.
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