This recently published article in the Journal of Clinical Psychology with Children and Adolescents studies the relationship between the severity of depressive symptoms and the different components of attentional bias towards sad stimuli in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D).
Methodology:
- 27 children participated. 16 girls aged 8 to 12 with type 1 diabetes belonged to the experimental group (M = 10.6, SD = 1.3) and 21 girls of the same age belonged to the control group (M = 10.0, SD = 1.2).
- They completed the Reynolds Child Depression Scale (RCDS) and carried out the ARDPEI task.
Key Findings:
- Both children with T1D and healthy children showed an attentional bias towards emotionally expressive faces, specifically in the attentional engagement component.
- A significant correlation was found between the severity of depressive symptoms and the attentional engagement bias towards sad facial expressions in children with T1D.
Conclusions:
Assessing the components of attentional bias, especially the engagement bias towards mood-congruent emotional information, emerges as an essential practice for assessing the risk of depression in children with type 1 diabetes. Additionally, understanding these mechanisms could lead to more effective psychological interventions for this vulnerable population.
The full article can be found here: https://www.revistapcna.com/sites/default/files/3_2329.pdf