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Attention network functioning in children with anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and non-clinical anxiety

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2015

K. Mogg ,
G. A. Salum ,
B. P. Bradley ,
A. Gadelha ,
P. Pan ,
P. Alvarenga ,
L. A. Rohde ,
D. S. Pine  and
G. G. Manfro
K. Mogg*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
G. A. Salum
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Porto Alegre, Brazil Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
B. P. Bradley
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
A. Gadelha
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Porto Alegre, Brazil Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
P. Pan
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Porto Alegre, Brazil Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
P. Alvarenga
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Porto Alegre, Brazil University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
L. A. Rohde
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Porto Alegre, Brazil Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
D. S. Pine
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
G. G. Manfro
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Porto Alegre, Brazil Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
*
* Address for correspondence: K. Mogg, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Research with adults suggests that anxiety is associated with poor control of executive attention. However, in children, it is unclear (a) whether anxiety disorders and non-clinical anxiety are associated with deficits in executive attention, (b) whether such deficits are specific to anxiety versus other psychiatric disorders, and (c) whether there is heterogeneity among anxiety disorders (in particular, specific phobia versus other anxiety disorders).

Method

We examined executive attention in 860 children classified into three groups: anxiety disorders (n = 67), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 67) and no psychiatric disorder (n = 726). Anxiety disorders were subdivided into: anxiety disorders excluding specific phobia (n = 43) and specific phobia (n = 21). The Attention Network Task was used to assess executive attention, alerting and orienting.

Results

Findings indicated heterogeneity among anxiety disorders, as children with anxiety disorders (excluding specific phobia) showed impaired executive attention, compared with disorder-free children, whereas children with specific phobia showed no executive attention deficit. Among disorder-free children, executive attention was less efficient in those with high, relative to low, levels of anxiety. There were no anxiety-related deficits in orienting or alerting. Children with ADHD not only had poorer executive attention than disorder-free children, but also higher orienting scores, less accurate responses and more variable response times.

Conclusions

Impaired executive attention in children (reflected by difficulty inhibiting processing of task-irrelevant information) was not fully explained by general psychopathology, but instead showed specific associations with anxiety disorders (other than specific phobia) and ADHD, as well as with high levels of anxiety symptoms in disorder-free children.

Keywords

Anxietyattention-deficit/hyperactivity disorderAttention Network Taskchildrenexecutive attention
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 45 , Issue 12 , September 2015 , pp. 2633 - 2646
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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