Attention bias to threat faces in children with bipolar disorder and comorbid lifetime anxiety disorders.
BACKGROUND
Although comorbid anxiety disorders are common in children with bipolar disorder (BD), it is unclear how this comorbidity impacts the pathophysiology of the illness.


METHODS
Pediatric BD with lifetime anxiety (BD+ANX, n = 20), BD without lifetime anxiety (BD-ANX, n = 11), and controls (n = 14) were administered the visual-probe paradigm, which assesses attention bias to threat faces.


RESULTS
Bipolar disorder +ANX demonstrated a stronger bias toward threat relative to BD-ANX and controls; the latter two did not differ from each other.


CONCLUSIONS
Bipolar disorder +ANX showed a bias toward threat while, in two previous studies, anxious children showed a bias away from threat faces. Future studies should compare the pathophysiology of BD with and without a comorbid anxiety disorder and anxiety disorders presenting alone.
Brotman
Melissa A
MA
Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. brotmanm@mail.nih.gov
Rich
Brendan A
BA
Schmajuk
Mariana
M
Reising
Michelle
M
Monk
Christopher S
CS
Dickstein
Daniel P
DP
Mogg
Karin
K
Bradley
Brendan P
BP
Pine
Daniel S
DS
Leibenluft
Ellen
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000374:Aggression; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D012016:Reference Values