Brain and Behavior Correlates of Risk Taking in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders

Avoidant behavior is a defining feature of pediatric anxiety disorders. Although prior research has examined it from the perspective of early information processing events, there has been relatively less consideration of the processes by which anxious youth make avoidant decisions and how these choices are reinforced over time. Studies of risk taking are valuable in this regard because they consider how individuals identify the pros and cons of their choices, how they weigh potential gains and losses and estimate their respective probabilities, and how they tolerate the uncertainty intrinsic to any decision. In this review, we place risk taking within existing models of information processing in pediatric anxiety disorders and highlight the particular value of this construct for informing models of developmental psychopathology and individual differences in outcome over time. We review existing behavioral and neurobiological studies of risk taking in anxious youth and conclude by identifying directions for future research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.11.003

Automated summary

Avoidant behavior is a defining feature of pediatric anxiety disorders. While previous research focused on early information processing events, there has been less consideration of how anxious youth make avoidant decisions and reinforce their choices over time. Studies on risk taking are valuable for understanding how individuals weigh the pros and cons of their decisions and tolerate uncertainty. This review integrates risk taking into existing models of pediatric anxiety disorders and highlights its value for informing developmental psychopathology models and individual differences in outcomes. Existing behavioral and neurobiological studies on risk taking in anxious youth are reviewed, with suggestions for future research directions.