title: Attention bias and anxiety in young children exposed to family violence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Attention bias toward threat is associated with anxiety in older youth and adults and has been linked with violence exposure. Attention bias may moderate the relationship between violence exposure and anxiety in young children. Capitalizing on measurement advances, this study examines these relationships at a younger age than previously possible.
  
  
  METHODS
  Young children (mean age 4.7, ±0.8) from a cross-sectional sample oversampled for violence exposure (N = 218) completed the dot-probe task to assess their attention biases. Observed fear/anxiety was characterized with a novel observational paradigm, the Anxiety Dimensional Observation Scale. Mother-reported symptoms were assessed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment and Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children. Violence exposure was characterized with dimensional scores reflecting probability of membership in two classes derived via latent class analysis from the Conflict Tactics Scales: Abuse and Harsh Parenting.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Family violence predicted greater child anxiety and trauma symptoms. Attention bias moderated the relationship between violence and anxiety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Attention bias toward threat may strengthen the effects of family violence on the development of anxiety, with potentially cascading effects across childhood. Such associations maybe most readily detected when using observational measures of childhood anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Briggs-Gowan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Seth D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Pollak
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Damión
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Voss
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Mian
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zobel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wakschlag
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Research Programs, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Pine
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*