title: Anxiety and Attentional Bias to Threat in Children at Increased Familial Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: Anxiety and threat bias were examined in 6-8-year-old children at familial-risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and low-risk (LR, n = 37) controls. The high-risk (HR) group was divided into those who met diagnostic criteria for ASD (HR-ASD, n = 15) and those who did not (HR-non ASD, n = 24). The HR-ASD group had highest levels of parent-reported anxiety. The HR-non ASD group exhibited increased threat bias on a spatial-cueing task, while the HR-ASD group did not. Anxiety symptoms were associated with both threat bias and ASD severity. These findings suggest that the mechanisms underlying anxiety in HR siblings without ASD are similar to those in non-ASD populations. However, among children with ASD, hypersensitivity to threat may not underlie anxiety symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK. bosiljka.milosavljevic@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Bosiljka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Milosavljevic
authors.affiliation: MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shephard
authors.affiliation: MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Francesca G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Happé
authors.affiliation: Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
authors.forename: Mark H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Charman
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D000070379:Attentional Bias / Q000502:physiology*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D012307:Risk Factors; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Anxiety; Autism Spectrum Disorder; High-risk siblings; Threat bias