Attention Bias and Prodromal Anxiety Symptoms in Toddlers With Fragile X Syndrome and Down Syndrome.

The Down syndrome group was small, with 22 toddlers, so it may not represent the full range of children with Down syndrome. The study measured attention and anxiety at 24 months only, and the toddlers were not followed up with later anxiety diagnoses. The anxiety questionnaire used was not normed for children with intellectual disability, and anxiety scores were restricted, especially in Down syndrome and typically developing toddlers. The stranger and spider tasks were not presented in randomized order, so task order may have affected the results. The study did not account for other conditions that can affect attention, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The groups were not equivalent on age: toddlers with Down syndrome were slightly older than typically developing toddlers. Mullen cognitive scores were restricted because toddlers with fragile X syndrome and Down syndrome had lower IQ due to intellectual disability.

No author conflict-of-interest statement is included in the supplied text. The article is tagged as supported by NIH extramural research funding.

Do not read avoidance of a new person as evidence of current or later anxiety in toddlers with fragile X or Down syndrome. The groups did not differ on this measure, and it was not related to parent-reported anxiety. The study also did not follow the children for later anxiety diagnoses.