title: Attention network functioning in children with anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and non-clinical anxiety.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research with adults suggests that anxiety is associated with poor control of executive attention. However, in children, it is unclear (a) whether anxiety disorders and non-clinical anxiety are associated with deficits in executive attention, (b) whether such deficits are specific to anxiety versus other psychiatric disorders, and (c) whether there is heterogeneity among anxiety disorders (in particular, specific phobia versus other anxiety disorders).
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined executive attention in 860 children classified into three groups: anxiety disorders (n = 67), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 67) and no psychiatric disorder (n = 726). Anxiety disorders were subdivided into: anxiety disorders excluding specific phobia (n = 43) and specific phobia (n = 21). The Attention Network Task was used to assess executive attention, alerting and orienting.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings indicated heterogeneity among anxiety disorders, as children with anxiety disorders (excluding specific phobia) showed impaired executive attention, compared with disorder-free children, whereas children with specific phobia showed no executive attention deficit. Among disorder-free children, executive attention was less efficient in those with high, relative to low, levels of anxiety. There were no anxiety-related deficits in orienting or alerting. Children with ADHD not only had poorer executive attention than disorder-free children, but also higher orienting scores, less accurate responses and more variable response times.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Impaired executive attention in children (reflected by difficulty inhibiting processing of task-irrelevant information) was not fully explained by general psychopathology, but instead showed specific associations with anxiety disorders (other than specific phobia) and ADHD, as well as with high levels of anxiety symptoms in disorder-free children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology,University of Southampton,Southampton,UK.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mogg
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq),Porto Alegre,Brazil.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Salum
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology,University of Southampton,Southampton,UK.
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq),Porto Alegre,Brazil.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gadelha
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq),Porto Alegre,Brazil.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq),Porto Alegre,Brazil.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alvarenga
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq),Porto Alegre,Brazil.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rohde
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program,Bethesda,MD,USA.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Pine
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq),Porto Alegre,Brazil.
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Manfro
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D002666:Psychology, Child
keywords: Anxiety; Attention Network Task; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; children; executive attention