Bipolar Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Bipolar, including details on bipolar disorder, symptoms, treatment, depression, medication.

Attention bias to threat faces in children with bipolar disorder and comorbid lifetime anxiety disorders.

Brotman MA, Rich BA, Schmajuk M, Reising M, Monk CS, Dickstein DP, Mogg K, Bradley BP, Pine DS, Leibenluft E

Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. brotmanm@mail.nih.gov

BACKGROUND: Although comorbid anxiety disorders are common in children with bipolar disorder (BD), it is unclear how this comorbidity impacts the pathophysiology of the illness. METHODS: Pediatric BD with lifetime anxiety (BD+ANX, n = 20), BD without lifetime anxiety (BD-ANX, n = 11), and controls (n = 14) were administered the visual-probe paradigm, which assesses attention bias to threat faces. RESULTS: Bipolar disorder +ANX demonstrated a stronger bias toward threat relative to BD-ANX and controls; the latter two did not differ from each other. CONCLUSIONS: Bipolar disorder +ANX showed a bias toward threat while, in two previous studies, anxious children showed a bias away from threat faces. Future studies should compare the pathophysiology of BD with and without a comorbid anxiety disorder and anxiety disorders presenting alone.

Published 6 March 2007 in Biol Psychiatry, 61(6): 819-21.
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