title: Error-related brain activity in youth and young adults before and after treatment for generalized or social anxiety disorder.
abstract: Increased error monitoring, as measured by the error-related negativity (ERN), has been shown to persist after treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder in youth and adults; however, no previous studies have examined the ERN following treatment for related anxiety disorders. We used a flanker task to elicit the ERN in 28 youth and young adults (8-26years old) with primary diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or social anxiety disorder (SAD) and 35 healthy controls. Patients were assessed before and after treatment with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), and healthy controls were assessed at a comparable interval. The ERN increased across assessments in the combined sample. Patients with SAD exhibited an enhanced ERN relative to healthy controls prior to and following treatment, even when analyses were limited to SAD patients who responded to treatment. Patients with GAD did not significantly differ from healthy controls at either assessment. Results provide preliminary evidence that enhanced error monitoring persists following treatment for SAD in youth and young adults, and support conceptualizations of increased error monitoring as a trait-like vulnerability that may contribute to risk for recurrence and impaired functioning later in life. Future work is needed to further evaluate the ERN in GAD across development, including whether an enhanced ERN develops in adulthood or is most apparent when worries focus on internal sources of threat.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, United States. Electronic address: akujawa@hmc.psu.edu.
authors: Autumn
authors: A
authors: Kujawa
authors: Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1B1, Canada.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Weinberg
authors: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, United States.
authors: Nora
authors: N
authors: Bunford
authors: Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5295, United States.
authors: Kate D
authors: KD
authors: Fitzgerald
authors: Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5295, United States.
authors: Gregory L
authors: GL
authors: Hanna
authors: Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5295, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 1004 East Hall, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043, United States.
authors: Christopher S
authors: CS
authors: Monk
authors: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, United States.
authors: Amy E
authors: AE
authors: Kennedy
authors: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, United States.
authors: Heide
authors: H
authors: Klumpp
authors: Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500, United States.
authors: Greg
authors: G
authors: Hajcak
authors: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, United States; Departments of Psychology and Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Chicago, United States.
authors: K Luan
authors: KL
authors: Phan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003265:Contingent Negative Variation / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
keywords: Anxiety disorders; Cognitive behavior therapy; Endophenotype; Error-related negativity; Pharmacotherapy; Social anxiety disorder