Converging Multi-modal Evidence for Implicit Threat-Related Bias in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders

Abend, Rany; Bajaj, Mira; Matsumoto, Chika; Yetter, Marissa; Harrewijn, Anita; Cardinale, Elise M.; Kircanski, Katharina; Lebowitz, Eli R.; Silverman, Wendy K.; Bar‐Haim, Yair; Lazarov, Amit; Leibenluft, Ellen; Brotman, Melissa A.; Pine, Daniel S.

doi:10.1007/s10802-020-00712-w

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…This latter proposition is resonated by the null findings of first-fixation latency and location, and by the reduced psychometric properties of first-fixation dwell time. Finally, the task's sound psychometrics replicate previous research employing different versions of the task in social anxiety disorder (Lazarov et al, 2016), depression (Klawohn et al, 2020; Lazarov et al, 2018), problematic drinking behavior (Soleymani, Ivanov, Mathot, & de Jong, 2020), and pediatric anxiety (Abend et al, 2020; Chong & Meyer, 2020). Importantly, reported psychometrics are striking compared with reaction-time-based attention indices, which show poorer reliability (Rodebaugh et al, 2016; Waechter et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Attention allocation in posttraumatic stress disorder: an eye-tracking study

et al. 2021

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Background Eye-tracking-based attentional research implicates sustained attention to threat in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, most of this research employed small stimuli set-sizes, small samples that did not include both trauma-exposed healthy participants and non-trauma-exposed participants, and generally failed to report the reliability of used tasks and attention indices. Here, using an established eye-tracking paradigm, we explore attention processes to different negatively-valenced cues in PTSD while addressing these limitations. Methods PTSD patients (n = 37), trauma-exposed healthy controls (TEHC; n = 34), and healthy controls (HC; n = 30) freely viewed three blocks of 30 different matrices of faces, each presented for 6 s. Each block consisted of matrices depicting eight negatively-valenced faces (anger, fear, or sadness) and eight neutral faces. Gaze patterns on negative and neural areas of interest were compared. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were evaluated for the entire sample and within groups. Results The two trauma-exposed groups dwelled longer on negatively-valenced faces over neutral faces, while HC participants showed the opposite pattern. This attentional bias was more prominent in the PTSD than the TEHC group. Similar results emerged for first-fixation dwell time, but with no differences between the two trauma-exposed groups. No group differences emerged for first-fixation latency or location. Internal consistency and 1-week test-retest reliability were adequate, across and within groups. Conclusions Sustained attention on negatively-valenced stimuli emerges as a potential target for therapeutic intervention in PTSD designed to divert attention away from negatively-valenced stimuli and toward neutral ones.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Attention allocation in posttraumatic stress disorder: an eye-tracking study

et al. 2021

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“…These findings extend considerable other work with this eye-gaze paradigm (e.g. Abend et al, 2020 ; Chong & Meyer, 2020 ; Klawohn et al, 2020 ; Lazarov et al, 2021a ; Lazarov, Abend, & Bar-Haim, 2016 ; Lazarov, Ben-Zion, Shamai, Pine, & Bar-Haim, 2018 ), establishing sustained attention as an important cognitive feature of emotional problems, including in PTSD.…”

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confidence: 87%

Attention allocation to negatively-valenced stimuli in PTSD is associated with reward-related neural pathways

et al. 2022

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Background In a recent eye-tracking study we found a differential dwell time pattern for negatively-valenced and neutral faces among patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma-exposed healthy control (TEHCs), and healthy control (HC) participants. Here, we explored whether these group differences relate to resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) patterns of brain areas previously linked to both attention processes and PTSD. These encompass the amygdala, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC), and nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Methods Ten minutes magnetic resonance imaging rsFC scans were recorded in 17 PTSD patients, 21 TEHCs, and 16 HCs. Participants then completed a free-viewing eye-tracking task assessing attention allocation outside the scanner. Dwell time on negatively-valenced stimuli (DT%) were assessed relative to functional connectivity in the aforementioned seed regions of interest (amygdala, dACC, dlPFC, vlPFC, and NAcc) to whole-brain voxel-wise rsFC. Results As previously reported, group differences occurred in attention allocation to negative-valence stimuli, with longer dwell time on negatively valence stimuli in the PTSD and TEHC groups than the HC group. Higher DT% correlated with weaker NAcc-orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) connectivity in patients with PTSD. Conversely, a positive association emerged in the HC group between DT% and NAcc-OFC connectivity. Conclusions While exploratory in nature, present findings may suggest that reward-related brain areas are involved in disengaging attention from negative-valenced stimuli, and possibly in regulating ensuing negative emotions.

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“…Anxious children display increased threat vigilance to fearful and angry facial affect relative to non-anxious children [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 15 , 16 ] and are more likely to appraise emotional stimuli as negative or threatening [ 2 , 17 – 19 ]. Several brain networks are associated with threat biases in children and adults with anxiety disorders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-scan state anxiety is associated with greater right amygdala-hippocampal response to fearful versus happy faces among trait-anxious Latina girls

Díaz,

Tseng,

Michalska

2024

BMC Psychiatry

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Background Unfamiliarity with academic research may contribute to higher levels of anticipatory state anxiety about affective neuroimaging tasks. Children with high trait anxiety display differences in brain response to fearful facial affect compared to non-anxious youth, but little is known about the influence of state anxiety on this association. Because reduced engagement in scientific research and greater mistrust among minoritized groups may lead to systematic differences in pre-scan state anxiety, it is crucial to understand the neural correlates of state anxiety during emotion processing so as to disambiguate sources of individual differences. Methods The present study probed the interactive effects of pre-scan state anxiety, trait anxiety, and emotional valence (fearful vs. happy faces) on neural activation during implicit emotion processing in a community sample of 46 preadolescent Latina girls (8–13 years). Results Among girls with mean and high levels of trait anxiety, pre-scan state anxiety was associated with greater right amygdala-hippocampal and left inferior parietal lobe response to fearful faces relative to happy faces. Conclusions Anticipatory state anxiety in the scanning context may cause children with moderate and high trait anxiety to be hypervigilant to threats, further compounding the effects of trait anxiety. Neuroimaging researchers should control for state anxiety so that systematic differences in brain activation resulting from MRI apprehension are not misleadingly attributed to demographic or environmental characteristics.

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Converging Multi-modal Evidence for Implicit Threat-Related Bias in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders

Cited by 13 publications

References 69 publications

Attention allocation in posttraumatic stress disorder: an eye-tracking study

Attention allocation in posttraumatic stress disorder: an eye-tracking study

Attention allocation to negatively-valenced stimuli in PTSD is associated with reward-related neural pathways

Pre-scan state anxiety is associated with greater right amygdala-hippocampal response to fearful versus happy faces among trait-anxious Latina girls

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