Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, United States.
Department of Psychology, Emory University, United States.
Behav Brain Res. 2020 Apr 6;383:112513. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112513. Epub 2020 Jan 25.
Attentional bias is linked to a range of mood disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study examined attention bias patterns in African American children exposed to trauma, in order to better understand potential risk factors for PTSD.
31 children (ages 8-14) completed an eye-tracking task to assess gaze bias patterns while viewing pairs of emotional and neutral faces. Trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms were assessed in a subsample of children (n = 24).
Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) results examining attention bias indices and gender showed greater attention bias toward angry faces than happy faces (p < 0.01) and toward emotional faces in males than females (p < 0.05). Correlational analyses showed attention bias toward angry faces was associated with greater levels of child trauma exposure (p < 0.05). Based on linear regression analysis, child trauma exposure accounted for 17 % of variance in attention bias toward angry versus neutral faces independent of gender or posttraumatic stress symptoms (p < 0.05).
Trauma exposure in children is related to altered attention bias, via enhanced attention towards threatening cues. Results contribute to evidence that males and females may exhibit different attentional patterns. This study highlights the importance of additional research on attention bias patterns and prospective mental health outcomes across gender and through development.
注意力偏向与一系列情绪障碍有关，包括创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）。本研究通过考察暴露于创伤中的非裔美国儿童的注意偏向模式，以更好地了解 PTSD 的潜在风险因素。
31 名儿童（8-14 岁）完成了眼动追踪任务，以评估在观看情绪面孔和中性面孔时的注视偏向模式。在部分儿童（n=24）中评估了创伤暴露和 PTSD 症状。
重复测量方差分析（ANOVA）结果显示，在注意力偏向指数和性别方面，儿童对愤怒面孔的注意力偏向大于对快乐面孔的注意力偏向（p<0.01），对男性的情绪面孔的注意力偏向大于对女性的情绪面孔的注意力偏向（p<0.05）。相关分析显示，对愤怒面孔的注意力偏向与儿童创伤暴露程度呈正相关（p<0.05）。基于线性回归分析，儿童创伤暴露独立于性别或创伤后应激症状，可解释对愤怒面孔与中性面孔的注意力偏向差异的 17%（p<0.05）。
儿童的创伤暴露与注意力偏向的改变有关，表现为对威胁线索的注意力增强。研究结果进一步证明了男性和女性可能表现出不同的注意力模式。本研究强调了在性别和发展过程中，进一步研究注意力偏向模式与前瞻性心理健康结果的重要性。
