Boston University, Massachusetts, USA.
Behav Cogn Psychother. 2012 Mar;40(2):193-204. doi: 10.1017/S1352465811000580. Epub 2011 Oct 24.
The present study evaluated attentional bias in adolescents diagnosed with panic disorder. Although a large body of research exists in the area of attentional bias in adults, this feature of panic disorder is not well understood in adolescents.
Twenty-five adolescents, aged 12-17, with a panic disorder diagnosis were included in the study. An emotional Stroop task was utilized to assess whether: (1) adolescents with panic disorder exhibit an attentional bias to panic-relevant stimuli; (2) this bias diminishes after completing a course of CBT; and (3) a specific attentional bias towards disorder-relevant stimuli exists.
An attentional bias to panic-relevant stimuli was found at pre-treatment but was no longer present following an intensive CBT intervention. Contrary to some findings in the adult literature, no significant differences were found between panic-relevant versus other threatening stimuli.
These results suggest that adolescents with panic disorder, similar to adults, do exhibit an attentional bias towards panic-relevant stimuli, and treatment seems to normalize this cognitive process.
本研究评估了被诊断患有惊恐障碍的青少年的注意偏向。尽管成年人注意偏向领域有大量的研究，但青少年的惊恐障碍这一特征还没有得到很好的理解。
本研究纳入了 25 名年龄在 12-17 岁之间的患有惊恐障碍的青少年。采用情绪 Stroop 任务来评估：（1）患有惊恐障碍的青少年是否表现出对惊恐相关刺激的注意偏向；（2）这种偏向是否在完成认知行为治疗（CBT）课程后减少；（3）是否存在对障碍相关刺激的特定注意偏向。
在治疗前发现了对惊恐相关刺激的注意偏向，但在密集的 CBT 干预后这种偏向不再存在。与成人文献中的一些发现相反，惊恐相关刺激与其他威胁性刺激之间没有发现显著差异。
这些结果表明，患有惊恐障碍的青少年与成年人一样，确实表现出对惊恐相关刺激的注意偏向，并且治疗似乎使这种认知过程正常化。
