Möller S, Larsson A, Möttus A, Nordin G, Björkstrand J, Cervin Matti
Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Skåne Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Research Unit, Lund, Sweden.
Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2025 Mar;53(3):393-403. doi: 10.1007/s10802-024-01282-x. Epub 2025 Jan 6.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders are early-onset mental disorders characterized by selective attention and strong emotional reactions. Attentional bias has been proposed to play a role in the development, onset, and maintenance of the disorders, but few studies have included youth with mental disorders, and no study has included more than one clinical group, making it unclear whether biased attention is disorder-specific or transdiagnostic in nature. In the present study, 65 youths with OCD (M = 13.6 [2.4], 57% girls), 52 youths with anxiety disorders (M = 14.5 [2.6] 83% girls), and 45 youths without a psychiatric disorder (M = 13.9 [3.1], 67% girls) completed a modified dot-probe task that included threat, incompleteness, and disgust cues. Contrary to our hypotheses, no group exhibited any attentional bias to any emotional cue, no group differences were present, and individual differences in attentional bias were not associated with individual differences in any symptom type. Disgust cues produced slower response times compared to the other emotional cues, but this effect was consistent across all type of trials and present in all three groups. In this study, no support for biased attention in treatment-seeking youth with OCD or anxiety disorders was found, which is in line with recent findings in adults using the dot-probe task. As attentional processes are clearly implicated in the clinical manifestation of these disorders, future research should try to better operationalize and measure relevant processes.
强迫症（OCD）和焦虑症是早发性精神障碍，其特征为选择性注意和强烈的情绪反应。有人提出注意偏向在这些障碍的发展、发病和维持中起作用，但很少有研究纳入患有精神障碍的青少年，且没有研究纳入超过一个临床组，因此尚不清楚偏向性注意本质上是特定于某种障碍还是跨诊断的。在本研究中，65名患有强迫症的青少年（M = 13.6 [2.4]，57%为女孩）、52名患有焦虑症的青少年（M = 14.5 [2.6]，83%为女孩）和45名无精神障碍的青少年（M = 13.9 [3.1]，67%为女孩）完成了一项修改后的点探测任务，该任务包括威胁、不完整和厌恶线索。与我们的假设相反，没有一组对任何情绪线索表现出注意偏向，不存在组间差异，并且注意偏向的个体差异与任何症状类型的个体差异均无关联。与其他情绪线索相比，厌恶线索产生的反应时间更慢，但这种效应在所有类型的试验中都是一致的，并且在所有三组中都存在。在本研究中，未发现寻求治疗的患有强迫症或焦虑症的青少年存在偏向性注意，这与近期使用点探测任务对成年人的研究结果一致。由于注意过程显然与这些障碍的临床表现有关，未来的研究应尝试更好地操作化和测量相关过程。
