Anxiety-Related Attention Bias in Four- to Eight-Year-Olds: An Eye-Tracking Study

Overview

Journal Behav Sci (Basel)

Date 2020 Dec 22

PMID 33348888

Citations 1

Authors

Suzannah Stuijfzand

Bobby Stuijfzand

Shirley Reynolds

Helen Dodd

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

(1) Background: There is evidence of an attention bias-anxiety relationship in children, but lack of appropriate methods has limited the number of studies with children younger than eight years old. This study used eye tracking as a measure of overt attention in young children. The aim of this study was to assess anxiety-related attention bias in children aged four to eight years. Age was considered a moderator, and the influence of effortful control was investigated. (2) Method: A community sample of 104 children was shown pairs of happy-neutral and angry-neutral faces. Growth curve analyses were used to examine patterns of gaze over time. (3) Results: Analyses revealed moderation by age and anxiety, with distinct patterns of anxiety-related biases seen in different age groups in the angry-neutral face trials. Effortful control did not account for age-related effects. (4) Conclusions: The results support a moderation model of the development of anxiety in children.

Citing Articles

Cross-cultural applicability of eye-tracking in assessing attention to emotional faces in preschool-aged children.

Nozadi S, Aguiar A, Du R, Enright E, Schantz S, Miller C Emotion. 2022; 23(5):1385-1399.

PMID: 36107657 PMC: 10014488. DOI: 10.1037/emo0001124.

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