The Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, USA.
Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA.
Dev Psychopathol. 2023 Aug;35(3):1335-1345. doi: 10.1017/S0954579421001231. Epub 2021 Dec 13.
The current study provided first analyses of the moderating effect of baseline-to-task frontal EEG asymmetry on the associations between 9-year fearful temperament and adolescent attention bias to threat as well as anxiety symptoms. Participants include a community sample of 122 children (60 boys, 62 girls; = 14.66 years; Range = 11.82-18.13 years). Baseline-to-task frontal EEG asymmetry at age 9 moderated the relation between fearful temperament at age 9 and adolescent anxiety symptoms. Specifically, fearful temperament predicted adolescent anxiety symptoms when children showed greater right activation from baseline to an executive function task, but not greater left activation. Baseline-to-task frontal EEG asymmetry moderated the association between fearful temperament and sustained (i.e., stimulus onset asynchrony is 1250 ms) but not automatic attention bias (i.e., stimulus onset asynchrony is 500 ms). Children with greater left frontal activation from baseline to task more efficiently direct attention away from threat. Adolescent automatic attention bias to threat was related to concurrent anxiety symptoms. These findings illustrate the importance of considering frontal EEG asymmetry to shape how fearful children process threat and to influence their behavioral problems.
本研究首次分析了基线到任务额前脑电不对称对 9 岁时恐惧气质与青少年对威胁的注意偏向以及焦虑症状之间关联的调节作用。参与者包括一个社区样本的 122 名儿童（60 名男孩，62 名女孩； = 14.66 岁；范围= 11.82-18.13 岁）。9 岁时的基线到任务额前脑电不对称调节了 9 岁时的恐惧气质与青少年焦虑症状之间的关系。具体来说，当儿童在执行功能任务中表现出更大的右侧激活而不是更大的左侧激活时，恐惧气质会预测青少年的焦虑症状。基线到任务额前脑电不对称调节了恐惧气质与持续（即刺激起始时相差 1250 毫秒）但不是自动注意偏向（即刺激起始时相差 500 毫秒）之间的关联。从基线到任务时左侧额前区激活更大的儿童，能更有效地将注意力从威胁中转移开。青少年对威胁的自动注意偏向与当前的焦虑症状有关。这些发现说明了考虑额前脑电不对称性对塑造恐惧儿童处理威胁的方式以及影响他们的行为问题的重要性。
