Childhood Adversity and Dimensional Variations in Adult Sustained Attention

Frontiers in Psychology

Sarah C. Vogel²  Michael Esterman³  Joseph DeGutis⁴  Jeremy B. Wilmer⁵  Laura T. Germine⁶  Kerry J. Ressler⁶ 

[1] Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States;Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States;Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States;Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States;Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, United States;Division of Depression and Anxiety Disorders, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States;Institute for Technology in Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States;National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States;

关键词: sustained attention;    childhood adversity;    psychopathology;    cognition;    population-based;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00691

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background and ObjectiveSustained attention is a transdiagnostic phenotype linked with most forms of psychopathology. We sought to understand factors that influence the development of sustained attention, by looking at the relationship between childhood adversity and adult sustained attention.Participants, Setting, and MethodsParticipants were 5,973 TestMyBrain.org visitors from English-speaking countries who completed a continuous performance task (gradCPT) of sustained attention and a childhood adversity questionnaire. We analyzed gradCPT performance using a signal detection approach.ResultsDiscrimination ability (the main metric of performance on the gradCPT) was associated with total childhood adversity load, even when controlling for covariates related to age, gender, parental education, race, country of origin, and relative socioeconomic status (β = −0.079, b = −0.032).ConclusionOur results demonstrate that attention differences related to childhood adversity exposure can (1) be measured using brief, performance-based measures of sustained attention, (2) persist into adulthood, and (3) be detected at the population level. These results, paired with the well-documented associations between sustained attention and psychopathology, indicate that sustained attention may be an important mechanism for understanding early influences on mental health.

【 授权许可】

Unknown