Anxiety-related attention bias in four- to eight-year-olds: an eye-tracking study

Stuijfzand, S., Stuijfzand, B., Reynolds, S. and Dodd, H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1446-5338 (2020) Anxiety-related attention bias in four- to eight-year-olds: an eye-tracking study. Behavioral Sciences, 10 (12). 194. ISSN 2076-328X doi: 10.3390/bs10120194

Abstract/Summary

(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.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/95475
Identification Number/DOI	10.3390/bs10120194
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Anxiety and Depression in Young People (AnDY) Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Development Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience
Publisher	MDPI
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