Browsing by Author "Abigail Oliver"

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Can we challenge attention and interpretation threat biases in rescued child labourers with a history of physical abuse using a computerised cognitive training task? Data on feasibility, acceptability and target engagement
(Elsevier Ltd, 2023) Sandesh Dhakal; Shulka Gupta; Narayan Prasad Sharma; Aakanksha Upadhyay; Abigail Oliver; Alex Sumich; Veena Kumari; Shanta Niraula; Rakesh Pandey; Jennifer Y.F. Lau
Child labourers are more likely to have experienced physical victimisation, which may increase risk for anxiety/depression, by shaping threat biases in information-processing. To target threat biases and vulnerability for anxiety/depression, we evaluated whether Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) training could be feasibly and acceptably delivered to rescued youth labourers. Seventy-six physically abused rescued labourers aged 14–17 (40 from Nepal, 36 from India) in out-of-home care institutions received either multi-session computerised CBM or control training. Training targeted attention away from threat to positive cues and the endorsement of benign over threat interpretations. Feasibility and acceptability data were gathered along with pre and post intervention measures of attention and interpretation bias and emotional and behavioural symptoms. In terms of feasibility, uptake (proportion of those who completed the pre-intervention assessment from those who consented) and retention (proportion of those who completed the post-intervention assessment from those who completed the pre-intervention assessment) were above 75% in both countries. Average acceptability ratings were mostly ‘moderate’ on most indices for both countries, and none of the participants reported experiencing serious adverse events or reactions in response to or during the trial. Secondarily, CBM participants showed increased attention to positive and decreased attention to threatening stimuli, as well as increased endorsement of benign interpretation and decreased endorsement in negative interpretations of ambiguous social situations. Symptom changes were less clear. Delivering CBM to former child labourers in out-of-home care institutions has interventive potential. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03625206, Date of registration: August 10, 2018. © 2023
Threat biases associate with anxiety and depression in physically-abused young people with a history of child labour
(Elsevier Ltd, 2022) Narayan Prasad Sharma; Sandesh Dhakal; Abigail Oliver; Shulka Gupta; Veena Kumari; Rakesh Pandey; Shanta Niraula; Jennifer Y.F. Lau
Background and objectives: Young people who have experienced early-life maltreatment preferentially attend to threat and draw more threatening interpretations. In turn, these threat biases may explain elevated risk for lifelong anxiety and/or depression. We investigated whether adolescent labourers with a history of physical abuse showed threat biases relative to non-abused labourers, and whether these threat biases associated with anxiety and depression. Methods: 100 young people (aged 13–18 years, 64% female) from Nepal rescued from illegal child work were assessed for childhood maltreatment and anxiety and/or depression disorders. Participants completed an emotional visual search task (to measure attention engagement of positive versus negative faces) and an ambiguous scenarios questionnaire (to measure the endorsement of negative versus benign interpretations). Results: Seventy young people reported a history of physical (and emotional) abuse. They were more likely to meet symptom thresholds for depression, and marginally, for anxiety disorders than non-physically abused participants. Abused and non-abused participants did not differ on attention engagement/disengagement of threat or on interpretational style. Abused participants with anxiety were slower to disengage from negative faces to engage with a positive face than non-anxious abused participants. Abused participants with depression endorsed more negative interpretations of ambiguous situations than those without depression. Limitations: The cross-sectional design limits our ability to infer whether threat biases reflect risk markers of psychopathology. Conclusions: If threat biases are shown to confer risk for anxiety and depression in future studies, they could be targeted in mental health prevention programs for these vulnerable young people. © 2022