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Considerable work implicates abnormal neural activation and disrupted attention to facial-threat cues in adult anxiety disorders. However, in pediatric anxiety, no research has examined attention modulation of neural response to threat cues.

To determine whether attention modulates amygdala and cortical responses to facial-threat cues differentially in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder and in healthy adolescents.

Case-control study.

Government clinical research institute.

Fifteen adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder and 20 controls.

Blood oxygenation level–dependent signal as measured via functional magnetic resonance imaging. During imaging, participants completed a face-emotion rating task that systematically manipulated attention.

While attending to their own subjective fear, patients, but not controls, showed …