Patterns of attentional biases in children and emotional symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: a two-wave longitudinal study

• Published in: Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 61 - 13
• Main Author: Zhang, Qiaochu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 17-05-2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Analysis; Anxiety; Anxiety symptoms; Attentional bias; Bias; Child & adolescent mental health; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Child psychopathology; Children; China; Cognitive models; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Depression symptoms; Depression, Mental; Emotions; Epidemics; Fear; Fear of COVID-19; Latent profiles; Longitudinal studies; Mental depression; Pandemics; Social anxiety; Teenagers; Threats; China; Netherlands; Latent profiles; Attentional bias; Children; Anxiety symptoms; Fear of COVID-19; Depression symptoms
• ISSN: 1753-2000; 1753-2000
• DOI: 10.1186/s13034-023-00594-y

It is unknown how the patterns of negative and positive attentional biases in children predict fear of COVID-19, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study identified profiles of negative and positive attentional biases in children and examined their association with emotional symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
264 children (girls: 53.8% and boys: 46.2%) of 9-10 years born in Hong Kong or mainland China from a primary school in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China were involved in a two-wave longitudinal study. Children completed the COVID-19 Fear Scale, the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Attention to Positive and Negative Information Scale to measure fear of COVID-19, anxiety and depression symptoms, and negative and positive attentional biases in classrooms. After six months, they completed the second assessment of fear of COVID-19, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms in classrooms. Latent profile analysis was conducted to reveal distinct profiles of attentional biases in children. A series of repeated MANOVA was performed to examine the association of profiles of attentional biases to fear of COVID-19, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms across 6 months.
Three profiles of negative and positive attentional biases were revealed in children. Children with a "moderate positive and high negative attentional biases" profile had significantly higher fear of the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms than children with a "high positive and moderate negative attentional biases" profile. Children with a "low positive and negative attentional biases" profile were not significantly different in fear of COVID-19, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms than those with the other two profiles.
Patterns of negative and positive attentional biases were related to emotional symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. It might be important to consider children's overall patterns of negative and positive attentional biases to identify children at risk of higher emotional symptoms.