PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alexandria Meyer
AU  - Lushna Mehra
AU  - Greg Hajcak
TI  - Error-related negativity predicts increases in anxiety in a sample of clinically anxious female children and adolescents over 2 years
AID  - 10.1503/jpn.200128
DP  - 2021 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
PG  - E472--E479
VI  - 46
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jpn.ca/content/46/4/E472.short
4100  - http://jpn.ca/content/46/4/E472.full
SO  - JPN2021 Jul 01; 46
AB  - Background: An increased neural response to making errors has emerged as a biomarker of anxiety. Error negativity (Ne) or error-related negativity (ERN) is an event-related potential generated when people commit errors; the Ne/ERN is greater among people with anxiety and predicts increases in anxiety. However, no previous study has examined whether the Ne/ERN can be used as a prognostic indicator among people with current anxiety. The present study addressed this gap by examining whether the Ne/ERN prospectively predicts increases in anxiety symptoms in clinically anxious children and adolescents.Methods: The sample included 34 female participants between the ages of 8 and 14 years who met the criteria for a clinical anxiety disorder based on clinical interview. The Ne/ERN was measured using a flanker task.Results: Increased Ne/ERN at baseline predicted increases in total anxiety symptoms 2 years later, even when accounting for baseline symptoms. The Ne/ERN predicted increases in the symptom domains of generalized anxiety, social anxiety and harm avoidance/perfectionism, but not panic, separation anxiety, school avoidance or physical symptoms.Limitations: The sample size was small, which may have inflated the false discovery rate. To mitigate this possibility, we used multiple self-report measures, and the results for the 2 measures (as well as their symptom domains) converged.Conclusion: These data suggest that the Ne/ERN can delineate specific risk trajectories, even among those who already meet the criteria for a clinical anxiety disorder. Considering the need for prognostic markers among people with clinical anxiety, the current findings are an important and novel extension of previous work.