EXAMINING ATTENTION CONTROL AS A MODERATOR OF THREAT-RELATED ATTENTION BIAS AMONG ANXIETY DISORDERED YOUTH

Abstract

Research from the information processing and temperament literatures has proposed dysfunction within systems of attention, including early attentional orientation (bottom-up) and later executive control of attention (top-down), in contribution toward the development of anxiety disorders. This study investigated the moderating role of attentional control on the relationship between threat-related attention bias and youth anxiety severity. Participants were 107 treatment-seeking youth (7-17 years, Mage = 11.17 years, SD = 3.06; 41.4% male) who met diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder. Multimodal assessment (behavioral, youth-, and parent-report) of attention control, threat-related attention bias, and anxiety severity was conducted. Hierarchical regression analyses provided little support for attention control as a moderator of the relationship between threat-related attention bias and anxiety severity. However, attention control was identified as a more salient predictor of anxiety severity than threat-related attention bias. Measures of attention were identified as distinct from parent-reported symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression for youth. Similarly, measures of attention and anxiety severity for youth were not related to parenting behavior or parental attention control but were influenced by parents’ self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. Implications for future research and clinical work are discussed.