A new study from Florida International University highlights the importance of emotional attention in children and adolescents, suggesting that difficulties in staying focused during upsetting moments may signal mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, especially among teenagers.
Children’s ability to stay on task when they are upset may reveal more about their mental health than how well they concentrate in calm moments, according to new research from Florida International University.
In a study published in the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, psychology PhD candidate Krystyna Keller tested whether a survey designed for adults could also measure emotional attention in children and teenagers. The team surveyed 241 youngsters aged six to 17 and found the tool was best understood as capturing two separate skills: emotional focusing, or staying with a task despite distress, and emotional shifting, or moving attention away from an emotional trigger.
The results suggested that children and adolescents were more likely to have anxiety or depression when they struggled to keep focus during upsetting moments or became stuck on negative feelings. The study also found that ordinary, non-emotional concentration still mattered: children who had trouble paying attention to everyday tasks such as schoolwork were also more likely to show signs of anxiety and depression.
One unexpected finding was that older participants tended to have more difficulty with emotional focus than younger children. Keller said teenage years bring a particular mix of pressures, including heightened emotions, social media and earlier puberty, which can intensify stress before young people are ready to manage it fully.
Keller also warned that some children hide distress well, including those who perform strongly at school. She urged schools to pair academic monitoring with emotional check-ins, alongside better access to psychologists and social workers. Her advice also extended to families, with an emphasis on modelling calm emotional regulation and talking openly about feelings.
Researchers said the study is the first to validate the Emotional Attentional Control Scale for younger people, and they argue that clinicians should pay closer attention to how children handle emotion-driven distractions over time. Keller conducted the work with Jeremy Pettit at the Child Anxiety and Phobia Program and the Centre for Children and Families at FIU.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
