Relating individual differences in internalizing symptoms to emotional attention set-shifting in children

A growing body of evidence points to links between internalizing symptoms and various executive functioning deficits, and especially to inhibition and set-shifting difficulties. However, there is limited developmental research regarding the impact of internalizing symptoms on the shifting function,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Anxiety, stress, and coping stress, and coping, 2014-01, Vol.27 (5), p.509-526
Main Authors: Mocan, Oana, Stanciu, Oana, Visu-Petra, Laura
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
anxiety
Anxiety - psychology
Attention - physiology
attentional control
Biological and medical sciences
Child
children
Control theory
Depression
Depression - psychology
emotional attention set-shifting
Emotions - physiology
Female
General aspects
Humans
Individuality
Internal-External Control
internalizing
Judgment - physiology
Male
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Mood disorders
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reaction Time - physiology
Romania
Set (Psychology)
Task Performance and Analysis
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Summary:A growing body of evidence points to links between internalizing symptoms and various executive functioning deficits, and especially to inhibition and set-shifting difficulties. However, there is limited developmental research regarding the impact of internalizing symptoms on the shifting function, particularly during middle childhood. The current study investigated attention shifting in a sample of 108 early school age children (7-11 years) using a task-switching paradigm which required participants to alternate between emotional and nonemotional judgments. Results indicated that higher levels of internalizing symptoms (anxiety and depression) had a detrimental effect on performance efficiency (measured by response times) but not on response accuracy. This effect was only observed on emotional (and not on nonemotional) repetition trials and did not affect switching trials; moreover, it was only present when feedback was presented to participants. The findings partially support the predictions of the Attentional Control Theory in a developmental sample and suggest that individual differences in internalizing symptoms play a role in children's ability to flexibly alternate between emotional judgments.
ISSN:1061-5806
1477-2205
DOI:10.1080/10615806.2014.888419