Temperament, attentional processes and anxiety: diverging links between anxiety-disordered and non-anxiety-disordered adolescents?

Temperament and attentional biases are thought to be involved in youth anxiety. The present study first examined the links between reactive temperament (negative affectivity, NA), regulative temperament (effortful control, EC) and internalizing problems in anxiety-disordered (ANX, N=39) and non-anxiety-disordered (nANX, N=35) adolescents (12-18 years). Links differed between ANX and nANX participants. NA predicted internalizing problems, with almost no role of EC in nANX, but a protective role of EC in ANX youth. Second, we investigated the role of attentional bias as a mediator between temperament and internalizing problems. Initial attention towards threat was not predicted by temperament. Strategic threat-related bias was predicted by initial attention and EC but these relations differed in both groups. In nANX participants, higher initial bias scores were predictive for lower strategic bias scores and higher levels of EC were associated with higher bias scores. In ANX participants, there was almost no effect of initial bias or EC on strategic attention. Internalizing problems were predicted by strategic attention, but again differently in ANX and nANX participants. High strategic bias scores were associated with an increase in anxiety in ANX and a decrease in anxiety in nANX participants. Taken together, no support for the mediating role of attention in temperament-internalizing problems associations was found.Temperament and attentional biases are thought to be involved in youth anxiety. The present study first examined the links between reactive temperament (negative affectivity, NA), regulative temperament (effortful control, EC) and internalizing problems in anxiety-disordered (ANX, N=39) and non-anxiety-disordered (nANX, N=35) adolescents (12-18 years). Links differed between ANX and nANX participants. NA predicted internalizing problems, with almost no role of EC in nANX, but a protective role of EC in ANX youth. Second, we investigated the role of attentional bias as a mediator between temperament and internalizing problems. Initial attention towards threat was not predicted by temperament. Strategic threat-related bias was predicted by initial attention and EC but these relations differed in both groups. In nANX participants, higher initial bias scores were predictive for lower strategic bias scores and higher levels of EC were associated with higher bias scores. In ANX participants, there was almost no effect of initial bias or EC on strategic attention. Internalizing problems were predicted by strategic attention, but again differently in ANX and nANX participants. High strategic bias scores were associated with an increase in anxiety in ANX and a decrease in anxiety in nANX participants. Taken together, no support for the mediating role of attention in temperament-internalizing problems associations was found.A