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Edwards M, Denniston D, Bariesheff C, Wyche NJ, Goodhew SC. Individual differences in emotion-induced blindness: Are they reliable and what do they measure? Atten Percept Psychophys 2024:10.3758/s13414-024-02900-y. [PMID: 38760639 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02900-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Abstract
The emotion-induced-blindness (EIB) paradigm has been extensively used to investigate attentional biases to emotionally salient stimuli. However, the low reliability of EIB scores (the difference in performance between the neutral and emotionally salient condition) limits the effectiveness of the paradigm for investigating individual differences. Here, across two studies, we investigated whether we could improve the reliability of EIB scores. In Experiment 1, we introduced a mid-intensity emotionally salient stimuli condition, with the goal of obtaining a wider range of EIB magnitudes to promote reliability. In Experiment 2, we sought to reduce the attentional oddball effect, so we created a modified EIB paradigm by removing the filler images. Neither of these approaches improved the reliability of the EIB scores. Reliability for the high- and mid-intensity EIB difference scores were low, while reliability of the scores for absolute performance (neutral, high-, and mid-intensity) were high and the scores were also highly correlated, even though overall performance in the emotionally salient conditions were significantly worse than in the neutral conditions. Given these results, we can conclude that while emotionally salient stimuli impair performance in the EIB task compared with the neutral condition, the strong correlation between the emotionally salient and neutral conditions means that while EIB can be used to investigate individual differences in attentional control, it is not selective to individual differences in attentional biases to emotionally salient stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Edwards
- School of Medicine and Psychology (Building 39), The Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, Australia.
| | - David Denniston
- School of Medicine and Psychology (Building 39), The Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
| | - Camryn Bariesheff
- School of Medicine and Psychology (Building 39), The Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
| | - Nicholas J Wyche
- School of Medicine and Psychology (Building 39), The Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
| | - Stephanie C Goodhew
- School of Medicine and Psychology (Building 39), The Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
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2
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Ginat-Frolich R, Gilboa-Schechtman E, Huppert JD, Aderka IM, Alden LE, Bar-Haim Y, Becker ES, Bernstein A, Geva R, Heimberg RG, Hofmann SG, Kashdan TB, Koster EHW, Lipsitz J, Maner JK, Moscovitch DA, Philippot P, Rapee RM, Roelofs K, Rodebaugh TL, Schneier FR, Schultheiss OC, Shahar B, Stangier U, Stein MB, Stopa L, Taylor CT, Weeks JW, Wieser MJ. Vulnerabilities in social anxiety: Integrating intra- and interpersonal perspectives. Clin Psychol Rev 2024; 109:102415. [PMID: 38493675 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2024.102415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
What are the major vulnerabilities in people with social anxiety? What are the most promising directions for translational research pertaining to this condition? The present paper provides an integrative summary of basic and applied translational research on social anxiety, emphasizing vulnerability factors. It is divided into two subsections: intrapersonal and interpersonal. The intrapersonal section synthesizes research relating to (a) self-representations and self-referential processes; (b) emotions and their regulation; and (c) cognitive biases: attention, interpretation and judgment, and memory. The interpersonal section summarizes findings regarding the systems of (a) approach and avoidance, (b) affiliation and social rank, and their implications for interpersonal impairments. Our review suggests that the science of social anxiety and, more generally, psychopathology may be advanced by examining processes and their underlying content within broad psychological systems. Increased interaction between basic and applied researchers to diversify and elaborate different perspectives on social anxiety is necessary for progress.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Idan M Aderka
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel
| | - Lynn E Alden
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada
| | - Yair Bar-Haim
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Israel
| | - Eni S Becker
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Amit Bernstein
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel
| | - Ronny Geva
- Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Israel
| | - Richard G Heimberg
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, United States of America
| | - Stefan G Hofmann
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, United States of America
| | - Todd B Kashdan
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Ernst H W Koster
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium
| | | | - Jon K Maner
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Florida, United States of America
| | - David A Moscovitch
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Mental Health Research & Treatment, University of Waterloo, Canada
| | - Pierre Philippot
- Department of Psychology, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
| | - Ronald M Rapee
- Centre for Emotional Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia
| | - Karin Roelofs
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands; Donders Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Thomas L Rodebaugh
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Franklin R Schneier
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, United States of America
| | | | - Ben Shahar
- The Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ulrich Stangier
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Murray B Stein
- Department of Psychiatry and School of Public Health, University of California San Diego, United States of America
| | - Lusia Stopa
- Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - Charles T Taylor
- Department of Psychiatry and School of Public Health, University of California San Diego, United States of America
| | - Justin W Weeks
- Department of Psychology, Nebraska Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America
| | - Matthias J Wieser
- Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
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3
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Basanovic J. Attentional biases to signals of negative information: Reliable measurement across three anxiety domains. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:4173-4187. [PMID: 38528246 PMCID: PMC11133079 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-024-02403-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
Cognitive models propose that individuals with elevated vulnerability to experiencing negative emotion are characterised by biased attentional responding to negative information. Typically, methods of examining these biases have measured attention to pictures of emotional scenes, emotional faces, or rewarding or feared objects. Though these approaches have repeatedly yielded evidence of anxiety-linked biases, their measurement reliability is suggested to be poor. Recent research has shown that attentional responding to cues signalling negative information can be measured with greater reliability. However, whether such biases are associated with emotion vulnerability remains to be demonstrated. The present study conducted three experiments that recruited participants who varied in trait and state anxiety (N = 134), social anxiety (N = 122), or spider fear (N = 131) to complete an assessment of selective attention to cues signalling emotionally congruent negative information. Analyses demonstrated that anxiety and fear were associated with biased attentional responding to cues signalling negative information, and that such biases could be measured with acceptable reliability (rsplit-half = .69-.81). Implications for research on the relation between emotion and attention are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Basanovic
- Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Washington Singer Laboratories, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.
- School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
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4
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Michalek JE, Qtaishat L, von Stumm S, El Kharouf A, Dajani R, Hadfield K, Mareschal I. Maternal Trauma and Psychopathology Symptoms Affect Refugee Children's Mental Health But Not Their Emotion Processing. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 2024:10.1007/s10802-024-01182-0. [PMID: 38430294 DOI: 10.1007/s10802-024-01182-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
Refugee children's development may be affected by their parents' war-related trauma exposure and psychopathology symptoms across a range of cognitive and affective domains, but the processes involved in this transmission are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the impact of refugee mothers' trauma exposure and mental health on their children's mental health and attention biases to emotional expressions. In our sample of 324 Syrian refugee mother-child dyads living in Jordan (children's Mage=6.32, SD = 1.18; 50% female), mothers reported on their symptoms of anxiety and depression, and on their children's internalising, externalising, and attention problems. A subset of mothers reported their trauma exposure (n = 133) and PTSD symptoms (n = 124). We examined emotion processing in the dyads using a standard dot-probe task measuring their attention allocation to facial expressions of anger and sadness. Maternal trauma and PTSD symptoms were linked to child internalising and attention problems, while maternal anxiety and depression symptoms were associated with child internalising, externalising, and attention problems. Mothers and children were hypervigilant towards expressions of anger, but surprisingly, mother and child biases were not correlated with each other. The attentional biases to emotional faces were also not linked to psychopathology risk in the dyads. Our findings highlight the importance of refugee mothers' trauma exposure and psychopathology on their children's wellbeing. The results also suggest a dissociation between the mechanisms underlying mental health and those involved in attention to emotional faces, and that intergenerational transmission of mental health problems might involve mechanisms other than attentional processes relating to emotional expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia E Michalek
- Youth Resilience Unit, Centre for Psychiatry and Mental Health, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
| | | | | | - Amal El Kharouf
- Centre for Women Studies, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
| | - Rana Dajani
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan
| | - Kristin Hadfield
- Trinity Centre for Global Health, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Isabelle Mareschal
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
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Oliveira M, Fernandes C, Barbosa F, Ferreira-Santos F. Differential correlates of fear and anxiety in salience perception: A behavioral and ERP study with adolescents. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2024; 24:143-155. [PMID: 38267798 PMCID: PMC10827851 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01159-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/07/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are the most common psychopathologies among adolescents. Their diagnostic criteria include both fear and anxiety symptomatology, although according to the literature, we can find evidence for some distinction between these two emotions. The present study contribute to this distinction, exploring the effects of trait fear and trait anxiety on behavioral and neural correlates. Thirty-two participants (aged 11-16 years) performed two experimental tasks of salient target detection, including visual stimuli that were manipulated to become salient, while reaction times and EEG were recorded. Results of both tasks revealed differential effects of trait fear and trait anxiety assessed through the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised and the Youth Anxiety Measure for DSM-5 on reaction times and ERP components amplitudes. Specifically, higher symptoms from Separation Anxiety Disorder increased early neural visual processing and decreased reaction times for more salient stimuli. Also, trait fear reduced later neural visual processing of salient stimuli. These findings may provide a significant contribution to guiding psychological interventions, especially with adolescents presenting higher levels of anxiety-related symptomatology.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Oliveira
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, R. Alfredo Allen, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal.
| | - C Fernandes
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, R. Alfredo Allen, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
- Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, University Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal
- Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP, RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto.CCC), Molecular Oncology and Viral Pathology Group, Porto, Portugal
| | - F Barbosa
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, R. Alfredo Allen, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
| | - F Ferreira-Santos
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, R. Alfredo Allen, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
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Ozturk S, Zhang X, Glasgow S, Karnani RR, Imbriano G, Luhmann C, Jin J, Mohanty A. Knowledge of Threat Biases Perceptual Decision Making in Anxiety: Evidence From Signal Detection Theory and Drift Diffusion Modeling. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 4:145-154. [PMID: 38298800 PMCID: PMC10829620 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2023.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Threat biases are considered key factors in the development and maintenance of anxiety. However, these biases are poorly operationalized and remain unquantified. Furthermore, it is unclear whether and how prior knowledge of threat and its uncertainty induce these biases and how they manifest in anxiety. Method Participants (n = 55) used prestimulus cues to decide whether the subsequently presented stimuli were threatening or neutral. The cues either provided no information about the probability (high uncertainty) or indicated high probability (low uncertainty) of encountering threatening or neutral targets. We used signal detection theory and hierarchical drift diffusion modeling to quantify bias. Results High-uncertainty threat cues improved discrimination of subsequent threatening and neutral stimuli more than neutral cues. However, anxiety was associated with worse discrimination of threatening versus neutral stimuli following high-uncertainty threat cues. Using hierarchical drift diffusion modeling, we found that threat cues biased decision making not only by shifting the starting point of evidence accumulation toward the threat decision but also by increasing the efficiency with which sensory evidence was accumulated for both threat-related and neutral decisions. However, higher anxiety was associated with a greater shift of starting point toward the threat decision but not with the efficiency of evidence accumulation. Conclusions Using computational modeling, these results highlight the biases by which knowledge regarding uncertain threat improves perceptual decision making but impairs it in case of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sekine Ozturk
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
| | - Xian Zhang
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
| | - Shannon Glasgow
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
| | - Ramesh R. Karnani
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Gabriella Imbriano
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Christian Luhmann
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
| | - Jingwen Jin
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Aprajita Mohanty
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
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7
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Greenaway AM, Hwang F, Nasuto S, Ho A. Webcam-Based Eye-Tracking of Attentional Biases in Alzheimer's Disease: A Proof-Of-Concept Study. Clin Gerontol 2024; 47:98-109. [PMID: 37515584 DOI: 10.1080/07317115.2023.2240783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To measure home-based older adults' attentional biases (AB) using webcam-based eye-tracking (WBET) and examine internal consistency. METHODS Twelve participants with and without cognitive impairment completed online self-report anxiety and depression screens, and a 96-trial dot-probe task with eye-gaze tracking. For each trial, participants fixated on a cross, free-viewed sad-neutral, sad-angry, sad-happy, angry-neutral, angry-happy, and happy-neutral facial expression pairings, and then fixated on a dot. In emotional-neutral pairings, the time spent looking (dwell-time) at neutral was averaged and subtracted from the emotional average to indicate biases "away from" (negative score) and "toward" (positive score) each emotional face. Internal consistency was estimated for dwell-times and bias scores using Cronbach's alpha and Spearman - Brown corrected split-half coefficients. RESULTS The full-cohort and a comorbid anxious and depressed sub-group (n = 6) displayed AB away from sad faces, and toward angry and happy faces, with happy-face AB being more pronounced. AB indices demonstrated low reliability except sub-group happy-face indices. Happy-face AB demonstrated the highest reliability. CONCLUSIONS AB measures were in-line with lab-based eye-tracking literature, providing some support for WBET-based measurement. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Establishing the feasibility of WBET-based measures is a step toward an objective home-based clinical tool. Literature-based suggestions are provided to improve reliability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Marie Greenaway
- Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire, UK
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire, UK
| | - Faustina Hwang
- Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire, UK
| | - Slawomir Nasuto
- Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire, UK
| | - Aileen Ho
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire, UK
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8
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Kang S, Osinsky R. The influence of single-session reward-based attentional bias modification on attentional biases towards threat as measured by the N2pc component. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1279311. [PMID: 38054167 PMCID: PMC10694235 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Attentional biases toward threatening faces have repeatedly been studied in the context of social anxiety, with etiological theories suggesting exacerbated biases as a possible cause for the latter. To counteract these postulated effects, research has focused on the concept of attentional bias manipulation (ABM), in which spatial contingencies between succeeding stimuli are traditionally employed in training paradigms designed to deliberately shift automatic attention processes away from threat-related stimuli. The ABM research field has been faced with various methodological challenges, such as inconsistent results, low reliabilities of dependent variables and a high susceptibility to moderating factors. We aimed to combine several recent approaches to address these issues. Drawing upon theories of value-driven attention, we explored reward-based contingencies in a Dot Probe task to improve the training's efficacy, combined with neurophysiological measures for greater reliability compared to reaction times, while evaluating the moderating effect of explicitness in the instruction. In a healthy sample (N = 60) and within a single session, we found a general attentional bias toward angry faces present across all conditions as indicated by the N2pc, which was, however, marked by large intrinsic lateralization effects, with submeasures exhibiting opposing polarities. This prompted us to explore an alternative, intrahemispheric calculation method. The new N2pc variant showed the attentional bias to have disappeared at the end of the training session within the explicit instruction group. Reliabilities of the main dependent variables were varied from excellent to questionable, which, together with the exploratory nature of the analysis, leaves this result as preliminary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Kang
- Department of Psychology, School of Human Sciences, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
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9
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Veerapa E, Grandgenevre P, Vaiva G, Duhem S, Fayoumi ME, Vinnac B, Szaffarczyk S, Wathelet M, Fovet T, D'Hondt F. Attentional bias toward negative stimuli in PTSD: an eye-tracking study. Psychol Med 2023; 53:5809-5817. [PMID: 36259422 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291722003063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Research on biased processing of aversive stimuli in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has produced inconsistent results between response time (RT) and eye-tracking studies. Recent RT-based results of dot-probe studies showed no attentional bias (AB) for threat while eye-tracking research suggested heightened sustained attention for this information. Here, we used both RT-based and eye-tracking measures to explore the dynamics of AB to negative stimuli in PTSD. METHODS Twenty-three individuals diagnosed with PTSD, 23 trauma-exposed healthy controls, and 23 healthy controls performed an emotional dot-probe task with pairs of negative and neutral scenes presented for either 1 or 2 s. Analyses included eye movements during the presentation of the scenes and RT associated with target localization. RESULTS There was no evidence for an AB toward negative stimuli in PTSD from RT measures. However, the main eye-tracking results revealed that all three groups showed longer dwell times on negative pictures than neutral pictures at 1 s and that this AB was stronger for individuals with PTSD. Moreover, although AB disappeared for the two groups of healthy controls with prolonged exposure, it persisted for individuals with PTSD. CONCLUSION PTSD is associated with an AB toward negative stimuli, characterized by heightened sustained attention toward negative scenes once detected. This study sheds light on the dynamics of AB to negative stimuli in PTSD and encourages us to consider optimized therapeutic interventions targeting abnormal AB patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilie Veerapa
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France
- Department of Psychiatry, CHU Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Pierre Grandgenevre
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France
- Department of Psychiatry, CHU Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Guillaume Vaiva
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France
- Department of Psychiatry, CHU Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
- Centre national de ressources et de résilience Lille-Paris (CN2R), F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Stéphane Duhem
- Department of Psychiatry, CHU Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
- Centre national de ressources et de résilience Lille-Paris (CN2R), F-59000 Lille, France
- Fédération de Recherche en Psychiatrie et Santé Mentale des Hauts-de-France, F-59000 Lille, France
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, CIC1403 - Clinical Investigation Center, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Mohamed El Fayoumi
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Benjamin Vinnac
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France
- Department of Psychiatry, CHU Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Sébastien Szaffarczyk
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Marielle Wathelet
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France
- Department of Psychiatry, CHU Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
- Centre national de ressources et de résilience Lille-Paris (CN2R), F-59000 Lille, France
- Fédération de Recherche en Psychiatrie et Santé Mentale des Hauts-de-France, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Thomas Fovet
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France
- Department of Psychiatry, CHU Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
- Centre national de ressources et de résilience Lille-Paris (CN2R), F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Fabien D'Hondt
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France
- Department of Psychiatry, CHU Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
- Centre national de ressources et de résilience Lille-Paris (CN2R), F-59000 Lille, France
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10
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Eskola E, Kataja EL, Hyönä J, Nolvi S, Häikiö T, Carter AS, Karlsson H, Karlsson L, Korja R. Higher attention bias for fear at 8 months of age is associated with better socioemotional competencies during toddlerhood. Infant Behav Dev 2023; 71:101838. [PMID: 36996588 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In previous studies, an attention bias for signals of fear and threat has been related to socioemotional problems, such as anxiety symptoms, and socioemotional competencies, such as altruistic behaviors in children, adolescents and adults. However, previous studies lack evidence about these relations among infants and toddlers. AIMS Our aim was to study the association between the individual variance in attention bias for faces and, specifically, fearful faces during infancy and socioemotional problems and competencies during toddlerhood. STUDY DESIGN AND SUBJECTS The study sample was comprised of 245 children (112 girls). We explored attentional face and fear biases at the age of 8 months using eye tracking and the face-distractor paradigm with neutral, happy and fearful faces and a scrambled-face control stimulus. Socioemotional problems and competencies were reported by parents with the Brief Infant and Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) when children were 24 months old. OUTCOME MEASURES AND RESULTS A higher attentional fear bias at 8 months of age was related to higher levels of socioemotional competence at 24 months of age (β = .18, p = .008), when infants' sex and temperamental affectivity, maternal age, education and depressive symptoms were controlled. We found no significant association between attentional face or fear bias and socioemotional problems. CONCLUSIONS We found that the heightened attention bias for fearful faces was related to positive outcomes in early socioemotional development. Longitudinal study designs are needed to explore the changes in the relation between the attention bias for fear or threat and socioemotional development during early childhood.
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11
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Machulska A, Kleinke K, Klucken T. Same same, but different: A psychometric examination of three frequently used experimental tasks for cognitive bias assessment in a sample of healthy young adults. Behav Res Methods 2023; 55:1332-1351. [PMID: 35650382 PMCID: PMC10126031 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-022-01804-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive bias research draws upon the notion that altered information processing is key for understanding psychological functioning and well-being. However, little attention has been paid to the question of whether the frequently used experimental paradigms hold adequate psychometric properties. The present study examined the psychometric properties of three widely used cognitive bias tasks: the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT), the visual dot-probe-task, and the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Approach, attentional, and association biases towards valenced stimuli were repeatedly measured at five different time points in a sample of 79 healthy young adults. Two different devices were used for assessment: a personal computer (PC) and a touchscreen-based tablet. Reliability estimates included internal consistency and temporal stability. Validity was inferred from convergence across different behavioral tasks and correlations between bias scores and self-reported psychological traits. Reliability ranged widely amongst tasks, assessment devices, and measurement time points. While the dot-probe-task appeared to be completely unreliable, bias scores obtained from the PC-based version of the AAT and both (PC and touchscreen) versions of the IAT showed moderate reliability. Almost no associations were found across information processing tasks or between implicit and explicit measures. Cognitive bias research should adopt a standard practice to routinely estimate and report psychometric properties of experimental paradigms, investigate feasible ways to develop more reliable tools, and use tasks that are suitable to answer the precise research question asked.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alla Machulska
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany.
| | - Kristian Kleinke
- Department of Psychology, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, D-57068 Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Tim Klucken
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
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12
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Pabst A, Bollen Z, Masson N, Billaux P, de Timary P, Maurage P. An eye-tracking study of biased attentional processing of emotional faces in severe alcohol use disorder. J Affect Disord 2023; 323:778-787. [PMID: 36529408 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social cognition impairments in severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD) are increasingly established. However, fundamental aspects of social cognition, and notably the attentional processing of socio-affective information, remain unexplored, limiting our understanding of underlying mechanisms. Here, we determined whether patients with SAUD show attentional biases to specific socio-affective cues, namely emotional faces. METHOD In a modified dot-probe paradigm, 30 patients with SAUD and 30 demographically matched healthy controls (HC) were presented with pairs of neutral-emotional (angry, disgusted, happy, sad) faces while having their eye movements recorded. Indices of early/automatic (first fixations, latency to first fixations) and later/controlled (number of fixations, dwell-time) processes were computed. RESULTS Patients with SAUD did not differ from HC in their attention to angry/disgusted/sad vs. neutral faces. However, patients with SAUD fixated/dwelled less on happy vs. neutral faces in the first block of stimuli than HC, who presented an attentional bias to happy faces. LIMITATIONS Sample-size was determined to detect medium-to-large effects and subtler ones may have been missed. Further, our cross-sectional design provides no explanation as to whether the evidenced biases precede or are a consequence of SAUD. CONCLUSIONS These results extend the social cognition literature in SAUD to the attentional domain, by evidencing the absence of a controlled attentional bias toward positive social cues in SAUD. This may reflect reduced sensitivity to social reward and could contribute to higher order social cognition difficulties and social dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arthur Pabst
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology research group (LEP), Psychological Sciences Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Zoé Bollen
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology research group (LEP), Psychological Sciences Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Nicolas Masson
- Numerical Cognition Group, Psychological Sciences Research Institute and Neuroscience Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Cognitive Science and Assessment Institute, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Pauline Billaux
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology research group (LEP), Psychological Sciences Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Philippe de Timary
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology research group (LEP), Psychological Sciences Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Department of Adult Psychiatry, Saint-Luc Academic Hospital & Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Pierre Maurage
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology research group (LEP), Psychological Sciences Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
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13
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Rayson H, Ryan ZJ, Dodd HF. Behavioural inhibition and early neural processing of happy and angry faces interact to predict anxiety: a longitudinal ERP study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101207. [PMID: 36764038 PMCID: PMC9929676 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Limited prospective research has examined whether attention biases to emotion moderate associations between Behavioural Inhibition (BI) and anxiety in preschool-aged children. Furthermore, there has been an over-reliance on behavioral measures in previous studies. Accordingly, we assessed anxiety in a sample of preschool-aged children (3-4 years) at baseline, and again approximately 6 and 11 months later, after they started school. At baseline, children completed an assessment of BI and an EEG task where they were presented with angry, happy, and neutral faces. EEG analyses focused on ERPs (P1, P2, N2) associated with specific stages of attention allocation. Interactions between BI and emotion bias (ERP amplitude for emotional versus neutral faces) were found for N2 and P1. For N2, BI was significantly associated with higher overall anxiety when an angry bias was present. Interestingly for P1, BI was associated with higher overall anxiety when a happy bias was absent. Finally, interactions were found between linear time and happy and angry bias for P1, with a greater linear decrease in anxiety over time when biases were high. These results suggest that attention to emotional stimuli moderates the BI-anxiety relationship across early development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Rayson
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS / Université Claude Bernard Lyon, France.
| | - Zoe J Ryan
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK
| | - Helen F Dodd
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK; Children and Young People's Mental Health Research Collaboration (ChYMe), Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, UK
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14
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Fridland E, Wiers CE, Rinck M, Becker ES, Gladwin TE. An experimental test of integrating imagery with approach bias modification for alcohol: A cautionary tale. Br J Health Psychol 2022; 28:383-396. [PMID: 36336992 DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In terms of dual process models, behaviour can be conceived of as the outcome of an interplay between reflective, top-down and impulsive, bottom-up processes. Behaviour change interventions may benefit from targeting both types of processes in a coherent way. One approach to this, in the context of reducing hazardous drinking, is to combine imagery involving real-life situations involving alcohol with the simple actions involved in Approach Bias Modification (ApBM), a form of Cognitive Bias Modification. DESIGN We developed and tested a version of this Imagery-enhanced Approach Bias Modification (IApBM) in an experimental design, with two independent factors: imagery versus control and ApBM versus control training components (N = 139). METHODS An effect of integrating the training factors was hypothesized on the alcohol-approach bias of an alcohol Approach-Avoidance Task. Further exploratory analyses were performed for the bias on alcohol-related Single Attribute Implicit Association Tests and on alcohol-related questionnaires. Finally, the psychometric properties of an imagery interference effect during training were explored. RESULTS Results showed no benefit of the training and in fact suggested a negative interaction in which combining the training components appeared to block reductions in craving effected by each in isolation. The reliability of the imagery-related interference effect was high and the effect was correlated with alcohol-related scales. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, it appears that interference between training components decreases their individual effects when combining imagery and ApBM in the current way. The imagery-related interference effects that could be measured during training conditions may be useful as an implicit measure of automatic processes underlying hazardous drinking.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Corinde E. Wiers
- Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Mike Rinck
- Behavioural Science Institute Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen The Netherlands
| | - Eni S. Becker
- Behavioural Science Institute Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen The Netherlands
| | - Thomas E. Gladwin
- Behavioural Science Institute Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen The Netherlands
- Institute of Lifecourse Development University of Greenwich London UK
- Department of Psychology and Counselling University of Chichester Chichester UK
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15
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No trait anxiety influences on early and late differential neuronal responses to aversively conditioned faces across three different tasks. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE, & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:1157-1171. [PMID: 35352267 PMCID: PMC9458573 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-00998-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe human brain's ability to quickly detect dangerous stimuli is crucial in selecting appropriate responses to possible threats. Trait anxiety has been suggested to moderate these processes on certain processing stages. To dissociate such different information-processing stages, research using classical conditioning has begun to examine event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to fear-conditioned (CS +) faces. However, the impact of trait anxiety on ERPs to fear-conditioned faces depending on specific task conditions is unknown. In this preregistered study, we measured ERPs to faces paired with aversive loud screams (CS +) or neutral sounds (CS −) in a large sample (N = 80) under three different task conditions. Participants had to discriminate face-irrelevant perceptual information, the gender of the faces, or the CS category. Results showed larger amplitudes in response to aversively conditioned faces for all examined ERPs, whereas interactions with the attended feature occurred for the P1 and the early posterior negativity (EPN). For the P1, larger CS + effects were observed during the perceptual distraction task, while the EPN was increased for CS + faces when deciding about the CS association. Remarkably, we found no significant correlations between ERPs and trait anxiety. Thus, fear-conditioning potentiates all ERP amplitudes, some processing stages being further modulated by the task. However, the finding that these ERP differences were not affected by individual differences in trait anxiety does not support theoretical accounts assuming increased threat processing or reduced threat discrimination depending on trait anxiety.
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16
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Rubin M, Muller K, Hayhoe MM, Telch MJ. Attention guidance augmentation of virtual reality exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Cogn Behav Ther 2022; 51:371-387. [PMID: 35383544 PMCID: PMC9458616 DOI: 10.1080/16506073.2022.2053882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Biased attention to social threats has been implicated in social anxiety disorder. Modifying visual attention during exposure therapy offers a direct test of this mechanism. We developed and tested a brief virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) protocol using 360°-video and eye tracking. Participants (N = 21) were randomized to either standard VRET or VRET + attention guidance training (AGT). Multilevel Bayesian models were used to test (1) whether there was an effect of condition over time and (2) whether post-treatment changes in gaze patterns mediated the effect of condition at follow-up. There was a large overall effect of the intervention on symptoms of social anxiety, as well as an effect of the AGT augmentation on changes in visual attention to audience members. There was weak evidence against an effect of condition on fear of public speaking and weak evidence supporting a mediation effect, however these estimates were strongly influenced by model priors. Taken together, our findings suggest that attention can be modified within and during VRET and that modification of visual gaze avoidance may be casually linked to reductions in social anxiety. Replication with a larger sample size is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikael Rubin
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Karl Muller
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Mary M. Hayhoe
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Michael J. Telch
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
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17
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Wang Y, Zhang X, Gao J, Zhang L, Jiang J. The effect of immersive virtual reality-based attentional bias modification on anxiety mitigation in healthy population. Psych J 2022; 11:956-967. [PMID: 35922380 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The present study compared an immersive virtual reality-based attentional bias modification (immersive VR-ABM) with the desktop version of the VR-ABM and an immersive virtual reality-based game (immersive VR-game) to examine the possible effect of the immersive presence on self-reported emotional reactions to a stressful task. One hundred and twenty participants were randomly assigned into three groups, and each group received a three-turn induction-intervention training. Anxiety symptoms were assessed at pre-induction, post-induction, and post-training. Results showed that virtual reality-based anxiety was induced and alleviated successfully in all three groups, but only the immersive VR-ABM group showed an accumulated effect on self-reported anxiety across sessions. The attentional bias based on probe latencies indicated no significant change in either the immersive or desktop VR-ABM groups. The present findings support the hypothesized VR-ABM's effect on self-reported anxiety at the immersive presence. The practical implications of using immersive VR-ABM are discussed for obtaining ecological validity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yamin Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Haidian, China
| | - Xiaoxiang Zhang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Haidian, China
| | - Jidong Gao
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Haidian, China
| | - Leran Zhang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Haidian, China
| | - Jinhang Jiang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Haidian, China
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18
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Aksu S, Soyata AZ, Mursalova Z, Eskicioğlu G, Tükel R. Transcranial direct current stimulation does not improve clinical and neurophysiological outcomes in panic disorder: A randomized sham-controlled trial. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2022; 76:384-392. [PMID: 35587504 DOI: 10.1111/pcn.13378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 05/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
AIM Emerging evidence suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has anxiolytic effects and may enhance emotional processing of threat and reduce threat-related attentional bias. Panic disorder (PD) is considered to be a fear network disorder along with prefrontal activity alterations. We aim to assess the effect of tDCS on clinical and physiological parameters in PD for the first time. METHODS In this triple-blind randomized sham-controlled pilot study, 30 individuals with PD were allocated into active and sham groups to receive 10 sessions of tDCS targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex bilaterally at 2 mA for 20-min duration over 2 weeks. The clinical severity, threat-related attentional bias, interoceptive accuracy, and emotional recognition were assessed before, immediately after, and 1 month after tDCS. RESULTS Active tDCS, in comparison to sham, did not elicit more favorable clinical and neuropsychological/physiological outcomes in PD. CONCLUSION The present study provides the first clinical and neurobehavioral results of prefrontal tDCS in PD and indicates that prefrontal tDCS was not superior to sham in PD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serkan Aksu
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Muğla, Turkey.,Department of Physiology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | | | - Zhala Mursalova
- Department of Psychiatry, Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Gaye Eskicioğlu
- Department of Psychology, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Raşit Tükel
- Department of Psychiatry, Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
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19
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Draheim C, Pak R, Draheim AA, Engle RW. The role of attention control in complex real-world tasks. Psychon Bull Rev 2022; 29:1143-1197. [PMID: 35167106 PMCID: PMC8853083 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-021-02052-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Working memory capacity is an important psychological construct, and many real-world phenomena are strongly associated with individual differences in working memory functioning. Although working memory and attention are intertwined, several studies have recently shown that individual differences in the general ability to control attention is more strongly predictive of human behavior than working memory capacity. In this review, we argue that researchers would therefore generally be better suited to studying the role of attention control rather than memory-based abilities in explaining real-world behavior and performance in humans. The review begins with a discussion of relevant literature on the nature and measurement of both working memory capacity and attention control, including recent developments in the study of individual differences of attention control. We then selectively review existing literature on the role of both working memory and attention in various applied settings and explain, in each case, why a switch in emphasis to attention control is warranted. Topics covered include psychological testing, cognitive training, education, sports, police decision-making, human factors, and disorders within clinical psychology. The review concludes with general recommendations and best practices for researchers interested in conducting studies of individual differences in attention control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Draheim
- Department of Psychology, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, USA.
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Richard Pak
- Department of Psychology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
| | - Amanda A Draheim
- Department of Psychology, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, USA
| | - Randall W Engle
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
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20
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Now you see it, now you don’t: Relevance of threat enhances social anxiety-linked attentional bias to angry faces, but relevance of neutral information attenuates it. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271752. [PMID: 35901035 PMCID: PMC9333259 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Temporary goals modulate attention to threat. We examined whether attentional bias to angry faces differs depending on whether a temporary background goal is neutral, or threat related, whilst also measuring social anxiety. Participants performed a dot probe task combined with a separate task that induced a temporary goal. Depending on the phase in this goal task, the goal made angry faces or neutral stimuli (i.e., houses) relevant. The dot probe task measured attention to combinations of angry faces, neutral but goal-relevant stimuli (i.e., houses), and neutral control stimuli. Attention was allocated to angry faces when an angry goal was active. This was more pronounced for people scoring high on social phobia. The neutral goal attenuated attention to angry faces and effects of social phobia were no longer apparent. These findings suggest that individual differences in social anxiety interact with current and temporary goals to affect attentional processes.
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21
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Vigilance: A Novel Conditioned Fear Response that Resists Extinction. Biol Psychol 2022; 174:108401. [PMID: 35872286 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Attentional bias for threat is an adaptive feature of human psychology, but may become maladaptive in anxiety-related disorders, causing distress, distraction, and distorted perception of danger. Reaction time measures have revealed automatic, covert attention biases to threat, whereas eye tracking has revealed voluntary biases over a larger timescale, with monitoring or avoidance depending on context. Recently, attentional bias for threat has been studied as a conditioned fear response, providing new insight into how attentional biases are acquired and inhibited through learning experiences. However, very few studies have examined voluntary gaze biases during fear learning. In a novel eye tracking paradigm (N = 78), we examine the overt components of attentional bias to threat and safety cues. We found that threat cues, but not safety cues, elicited an initial orienting bias, as well as sustained monitoring bias across 10-second trials. This collective "vigilance" response to threat cues was insensitive to extinction, whereas condition fear responding revealed by pupil size and self-report ratings showed marked extinction. Vigilance may be less prone to extinction, compared to autonomic arousal, because eye movements require less energy than preparing the body for defensive behavior. Implications for understanding vigilance in PTSD are considered.
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22
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Don't look now! Emotion-induced blindness: The interplay between emotion and attention. Atten Percept Psychophys 2022; 84:2741-2761. [PMID: 35701659 PMCID: PMC9630228 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02525-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Scientists have long been interested in understanding the influence of emotionally salient stimuli on attention and perception. One experimental paradigm that has shown great promise in demonstrating the effect of such stimuli is emotion-induced blindness. That is, when emotionally salient stimuli are presented in a rapid stream of stimuli, they produce impairments in the perception of task-relevant stimuli, even though they themselves are task irrelevant. This is known as emotion-induced blindness, and it is a profound and robust form of attentional bias. Here, we review the literature on emotion-induced blindness, such as identifying the types of stimuli that elicit it, and its temporal dynamics. We discuss the role of dimensional versus categorical approaches to emotion in relation to emotion-induced blindness. We also synthesize the work examining whether certain individuals, such as those high in anxiety versus psychopathy, succumb to emotion-induced blindness to different extents, and we discuss whether the deficit can be reduced or even abolished. We review the theoretical models that have been proposed to explain the phenomenon. Finally, we identify exciting questions for future research, and elucidate useful frameworks to guide future investigations.
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23
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Oar EL, Johnco CJ, Waters AM, Fardouly J, Forbes MK, Magson NR, Richardson CE, Rapee RM. Eye-tracking to assess anxiety-related attentional biases among a large sample of preadolescent children. Behav Res Ther 2022; 153:104079. [PMID: 35395478 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2022.104079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 03/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
A considerable body of research in adults has demonstrated that anxiety disorders are characterised by attentional biases to threat. Findings in children have been inconsistent. The present study examined anxiety-related attention biases using eye tracking methodology in 463 preadolescents between 10 and 12 years of age, of whom 92 met criteria for a DSM-5 anxiety disorder and 371 did not. Preadolescent's gaze was recorded while they viewed adolescent face pairs depicting angry-neutral and happy-neutral expressions with each face pair presented for 5000 ms. No group differences were observed across any eye tracking indices including probability of first fixation direction, latency to first fixation, first fixation duration and dwell time. The sample overall showed faster initial attention towards threat cues, followed by a later broadening of attention away from threat. There is a need to identify the types of threats and the developmental period during which visual attention patterns of anxious and non-anxious youth diverge to inform more developmentally sensitive treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ella L Oar
- Centre for Emotional Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
| | - Carly J Johnco
- Centre for Emotional Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Allison M Waters
- School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt Campus, Mount Gravatt, QLD, 4122, Australia
| | - Jasmine Fardouly
- Centre for Emotional Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia; School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Miriam K Forbes
- Centre for Emotional Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Natasha R Magson
- Centre for Emotional Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Cele E Richardson
- Centre for Emotional Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia; School of Psychological Science, Centre for Sleep Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Ronald M Rapee
- Centre for Emotional Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia
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24
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Olatunji BO, Liu Q, Zald DH, Cole DA. Emotional induced attentional blink in trauma-exposed veterans: associations with trauma specific and nonspecific symptoms. J Anxiety Disord 2022; 87:102541. [PMID: 35121157 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2022.102541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Although theoretical models suggest that an attentional bias for threat contributes to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, this bias has not been consistently observed in the literature. In the present study, trauma exposed veterans (N = 114) performed an emotional attentional blink task in which task-irrelevant combat-related, disgust, positive, or neutral distractor images appeared 200 ms, 400 ms, 600 ms, or 800 ms (i.e., lag 2, 4, 6, and 8, respectively) before the target. Relative to neutral distractors, impaired target detection was observed following combat distractors and disgust distractors, but not positive distractors. However, veterans were less accurate following disgust distractors compared to combat distractors. As predicted, combat distractors and disgust distractors were also associated with a stronger linear increase in trial accuracy reflecting task improvement with increasing lag before the target. However, the linear trend in trial accuracy for combat distractors and disgust distractors did not significantly differ from each other. Contrary to predictions, trauma specific (i.e., PTSD symptoms and diagnosis) and nonspecific processes (i.e., attentional control) were unrelated to trial accuracy. These data suggest that while initial attentional capture by cues of war is observed among trauma exposed veterans independent of individual differences in trauma specific and nonspecific symptoms, this attentional capture is less robust compared to attentional capture by disgust-eliciting stimuli. The implications of these findings for the theorized role of attentional biases for threat in the development and maintenance of PTSD are discussed.
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25
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Eye tracking evidence of threat-related attentional bias in anxiety- and fear-related disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev 2022; 93:102142. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Revised: 01/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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26
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Shi C, Taylor S, Witthöft M, Du X, Zhang T, Lu S, Ren Z. Attentional bias toward health-threat in health anxiety: a systematic review and three-level meta-analysis. Psychol Med 2022; 52:604-613. [PMID: 35341486 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291721005432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Attentional bias toward health-threat may theoretically contribute to the development and maintenance of health anxiety, but the empirical findings have been controversial. This study aimed to synthesize and explore the heterogeneity in a health-threat related attentional bias of health-anxious individuals, and to determine the theoretical model that better represents the pattern of attentional bias in health anxiety. Four databases (Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus) were searched for relevant studies, with 17 articles (N = 1546) included for a qualitative review and 16 articles (18 studies) for a three-level meta-analysis (N = 1490). The meta-analytic results indicated that the health anxiety group, compared to the control group, showed significantly greater attentional bias toward health-threat (g = 0.256). Further analyses revealed that attentional bias type, paradigm, and stimuli type were significant moderators. Additionally, compared to the controls, health-anxious individuals displayed significantly greater attention maintenance (g = 0.327) but nonsignificant attention vigilance to health-threat (g = -0.116). Our results provide evidence for the attention maintenance model in health-anxious individuals. The implications for further research and treatment of elevated health anxiety in the context of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) were also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Congrong Shi
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behaviour (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Steven Taylor
- Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Michael Witthöft
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Experimental Psychopathology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Xiayu Du
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behaviour (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Tao Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behaviour (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Shan Lu
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behaviour (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhihong Ren
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behaviour (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
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Neophytou K, Panayiotou G. Does attention bias modification reduce anxiety in socially anxious college students? An experimental study of potential moderators and considerations for implementation. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0264256. [PMID: 35213594 PMCID: PMC8880821 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
According to cognitive models, preferential attention to social threat contributes to maintenance of social anxiety. Socially anxious individuals are known to show attention biases to threatening stimuli, although there is inconsistency in the literature with regards to the type of attentional biases they present. This study examines the effect of attention bias modification (ABM) for social anxiety in non-treatment-seeking college students meeting social anxiety disorder criteria, taking into consideration previous mixed results regarding its effectiveness. Attention bias levels and types (i.e. vigilance vs avoidance) at baseline were examined and considered as potential moderators of ABM effects. Sixty-eight socially anxious individuals were randomly allocated to ABM vs placebo groups. A structured interview and self-report assessment were completed at pre-treatment and post-treatment. Results showed half of the participants presented few attention biases at baseline, and the rest presented either vigilance or avoidance. Participants with low attention biases scored higher in social anxiety than those showing avoidance and there was no difference between those showing vigilance vs avoidance. No significant effects from pre to post treatment were observed in attention biases, self-report or structured interview of anxiety in the ABM group. Baseline attention biases did not moderate these effects. Results are discussed with regards to implications for future research towards the creation of more effective protocols, based on the needs of heterogeneous social anxiety sub-groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klavdia Neophytou
- Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
- * E-mail:
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The Effect of Positive Rumination Training on Mental Health and Attentional Bias. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10862-022-09959-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Abstract
Background Attention bias to threat is a fundamental transdiagnostic component and potential vulnerability factor for internalizing psychopathologies. However, the measurement of attentional bias, such as traditional scores from the dot-probe paradigm, evidence poor reliability and do not measure intra-individual variation in attentional bias. Methods The present study examined, in three independent samples, the psychometric properties of a novel attentional bias (AB) scoring method of the dot-probe task based on responses to individual trials. For six AB scores derived using the response-based approach, we assessed the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, familial associations, and external validity (using Social Anxiety Disorder, a disorder strongly associated with attentional bias to threatening faces). Results Compared to traditional AB scores, response-based scores had generally better internal consistency (range of Cronbach's alphas: 0.68-0.92 vs. 0.41-0.71), higher test-retest reliabilities (range of Pearson's correlations: 0.26-0.77 vs. -0.05-0.35), and were more strongly related in family members (range of ICCs: 0.11-0.27 vs. 0-0.05). Furthermore, three response-based scores added incremental validity beyond traditional scores and gender in the external validators of current and lifetime Social Anxiety Disorder. Conclusions Findings indicate that response-based AB scores from the dot-probe task have better psychometric properties than traditional scores.
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Hirai M, Hernandez EN, Villarreal DY, Clum GA. Attentional Bias Toward Threat in Sexually Victimized Hispanic Women: A Dot Probe Study. J Trauma Dissociation 2022; 23:110-123. [PMID: 34651543 DOI: 10.1080/15299732.2021.1989108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The current study examined attentional bias toward threat in Hispanic college women exposed to lifetime sexual victimization in childhood, adulthood, and both childhood and adulthood. Response latencies and attention bias scores were compared between victimized and non-victimized individuals. Participants were 20 women exposed to adulthood sexual victimization (AS group), 15 exposed to childhood sexual victimization (CS group), 8 exposed to both childhood and adulthood sexual assault (revictimization: RV group), and 20 not endorsing sexual victimization (NS group). They were asked to complete the dot-probe task. The CS group and RV group were combined to create the CS-RV group. Among the AS and CS-RV groups, response latencies were faster when attention was engaged to threat than when attention was engaged to non-threat. The NS group did not demonstrate such differences. When response latencies were compared among the three groups, the CS-RV group had slower response latencies than the NS group. The CS-RV and AS groups revealed similarly significantly elevated bias scores toward threat words than the NS group. Hispanic college women exposed to lifetime sexual victimization display elevated levels of attention bias compared to non-victimized women. Further, the current findings align with an integrative cognitive model for explaining maladaptive informational processing in trauma victims.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiyo Hirai
- Department of Psychological Science, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX
| | - Elizabeth N Hernandez
- Department of Psychological Science, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX
| | - Delia Y Villarreal
- Department of Psychological Science, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX
| | - George A Clum
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA
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Correa KA, Carrillo V, Funkhouser CJ, Shenberger ER, Shankman SA. Ethnic differences in behavioral and physiological indicators of sensitivity to threat. J Anxiety Disord 2022; 85:102508. [PMID: 34864540 PMCID: PMC8760157 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Revised: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The clinical presentation of anxiety may differ between Hispanics/Latinx (H/L) and non-H/L, although findings on ethnic differences in self-reported anxiety symptoms have been mixed. Fewer studies have focused on ethnic differences in quick and relatively automatic laboratory-assessed indicators of anxiety symptoms, which have the potential to be more objective indicators than self-report. Therefore, the present study examined ethnic differences in two laboratory-assessed indicators of threat sensitivity (an important transdiagnostic mechanism of anxiety): attentional bias to threat and electromyography startle reactivity to threat. White H/L (n = 117) and White non-H/L (n = 168) adults who were matched on demographics and lifetime psychopathology (including anxiety) completed a dot-probe task to assess attentional bias to threat and the No-Predictable-Unpredictable threat (NPU) task to assess startle reactivity to threat. Results indicated that H/L displayed less Slow OrientationRB (β = -0.27, p = 0.032, R2β∗ = 0.02), and increased Slow DisengagementRB (β = 0.31, p = 0.016, R2β∗ = 0.02) compared to non-H/L. H/L exhibited blunted overall startle compared to non-H/L (β = -0.30, p = 0.014, R2β∗ = 0.02), but groups did not differ in startle reactivity to either predictable or unpredictable threat. In summary, H/L and non-H/L may differ in their experience and presentation of anxiety symptoms and such differences may vary across indicators of sensitivity to threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly A Correa
- University of Illinois at Chicago, United States; Northwestern University, United States
| | | | - Carter J Funkhouser
- University of Illinois at Chicago, United States; Northwestern University, United States
| | - Elyse R Shenberger
- University of Illinois at Chicago, United States; Northwestern University, United States
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Rubin M, Bhattacharya N, Gwizdka J, Griffin Z, Telch M. The influence of PTSD symptoms on selective visual attention while reading. Cogn Emot 2021; 36:527-534. [PMID: 34923917 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2021.2016639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
A large body of research has provided evidence that Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms are associated with broad changes in attentional processes which are in turn implicated in core facets of emotion regulation. However, prior research has primarily focused on specific task-based evaluations of attention. In the current study, we evaluated eye movement behaviour among adults that endorsed a traumatic event meeting Criterion A and were experiencing a range of PTSD symptoms (N = 55) while they read short trauma-related or neutral passages. We found evidence that PTSD symptoms were associated with a small difference in attentional processes between the two types of passages, with longer first fixations to words in trauma-related passages b = 1.92, 95% CI [0.31, 3.56]. Moreover, within the trauma-related texts we found that greater PTSD symptoms were associated with longer total fixation times b = 9.53, 95% CI [2.20, 16.83] and a greater number of regressions b = 0.07, 95% CI [0.01,0.13] to trauma-related words. Inclusion of an additional 25 participants not endorsing a trauma that met Criterion A did not influence the results in any meaningful way. For the first time, we provide evidence that PTSD symptoms are linked to bias for trauma-related information during a naturalistic, everyday activity - reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikael Rubin
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | | | - Jacek Gwizdka
- School of Information, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Zenzi Griffin
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Michael Telch
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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Gade PR, Molloy A, Anderson PL. The use of trial-level bias scores to examine attention bias and attention bias variability among people with and without social anxiety disorder. J Clin Psychol 2021; 78:847-856. [PMID: 34664275 DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive models of anxiety propose that people with anxiety disorders show elevated levels of attention bias toward threat, but the most commonly used index of attention bias, which measures the construct with an aggregate score of multiple trials across an experimental session, shows poor test-retest reliability. Newer indices that measure attention bias dynamically on a trial-to-trial basis show good reliability and enable researchers to measure not only overall attention bias toward threat, but also attention bias variability. METHODS The current study tested the hypothesis that people diagnosed with social anxiety disorder would show higher attention bias variability and higher attention bias toward threat when calculated dynamically and when calculated using the traditional aggregate index. Participants diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (n = 47) and controls (n = 57) completed a 160-trial version of the dot-probe task using emotional and neutral images of faces as stimuli. RESULTS Relative to controls, participants diagnosed with social anxiety disorder showed higher mean bias toward threat, but only when calculated using trial-level bias scores. There were no differences between groups on attention bias variability. DISCUSSION This is the first study to examine differences in attention bias and attention bias variability between people with and without social anxiety disorder using trial-level bias scores. Results suggest that attention bias, but not attention bias variability, is a feature of social anxiety psychopathology and that trial-level bias scores may be more sensitive than aggregated mean scores to detect it. These findings have implications for clinical interventions such as attention bias modification programs, which require precise measures of attention bias to accurately assess treatment outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Praful R Gade
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Anthony Molloy
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Page L Anderson
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Bollen Z, Pabst A, Masson N, Billaux P, D'Hondt F, Deleuze J, De Longueville X, Lambot C, Maurage P. Alcohol-related attentional biases in recently detoxified inpatients with severe alcohol use disorder: an eye-tracking approach. Drug Alcohol Depend 2021; 225:108803. [PMID: 34182378 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Revised: 04/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dominant theoretical models consider that attentional biases (AB) towards alcohol-related stimuli play a key role in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Their assessment has however showed high inconsistencies and has been mostly based on unreliable behavioral measures. This study evaluated the presence and extent of alcohol-related AB in recently detoxified inpatients with severe AUD by combining the visual probe task (VPT) paradigm with eye-tracking measures, known to improve the VPT reliability in subclinical populations. METHODS We recruited 24 patients and 27 matched healthy controls. They performed the VPT (measuring reaction time when processing visual targets preceded by alcoholic and matched non-alcoholic pictures) combined with eye-tracking measures (dwell time, first fixation direction/duration, second fixation direction) during two sessions. Estimates of internal consistency, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability were measured. RESULTS Patients showed shorter dwell time for alcohol cues (p = .004, d=.853) and reduced number of fixations towards alcohol after a first fixation on non-alcohol cues (p = .012, d=.758) compared to controls. These findings suggest the presence of alcohol-related avoidance AB in detoxified patients with severe AUD. The VPT achieved excellent reliability for these eye-tracking measures. Reaction times and first fixation measures did not indicate any AB pattern and showed poor reliability. CONCLUSIONS The VPT, when combined with dwell time and second fixation direction, constitutes a reliable method for assessing AB in detoxified patients. It showed the presence of an alcohol-related avoidance bias in this clinical population, in contradiction with the approach bias predicted by theoretical models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoé Bollen
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology Research Group (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Arthur Pabst
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology Research Group (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Nicolas Masson
- Numerical Cognition Group, Psychological Science Research Institute and Neuroscience Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Cognitive Science and Assessment Institute, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Pauline Billaux
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology Research Group (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Fabien D'Hondt
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, Lille, France; CHU Lille, Clinique de Psychiatrie, CURE, Lille, France; Centre National de Ressources et de Résilience Lille-Paris (CN2R), Lille, France
| | - Jory Deleuze
- Cellule de Recherche du Beau Vallon, Saint-Servais, Belgium; Hôpital Psychiatrique du Beau Vallon, Regina Pacis, Saint-Servais, Belgium
| | | | - Carine Lambot
- Hôpital Psychiatrique du Beau Vallon, Regina Pacis, Saint-Servais, Belgium
| | - Pierre Maurage
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology Research Group (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
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Gladwin TE, Halls M, Vink M. Experimental control of conflict in a predictive visual probe task: Highly reliable bias scores related to anxiety. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2021; 218:103357. [PMID: 34175671 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Concerns have been raised about the low reliability of measurements of spatial attentional bias via RT differences in dot-probe tasks. The anticipatory form of the bias, directed towards predicted future stimuli, appears to have relatively good reliability, reaching around 0.70. However, studies thus far have not attempted to experimentally control task-related influence on bias, which could further improve reliability. Evoking top-down versus bottom-up conflict may furthermore reveal associations with individual differences related to mental health. In the current study, a sample of 143 participants performed a predictive Visual Probe Task (predVPT) with angry and neutral face stimuli online. In this task, an automatic bias is induced via visually neutral cues that predict the location of an upcoming angry face. A task-relevant bias was induced via blockwise shifts in the likely location of target stimuli. The bias score resulting from these factors was calculated as RTs to target stimuli at locations of predicted but not actually presented angry versus neutral faces. Correlations were tested with anxiety, depression, self-esteem and aggression scales. An overall bias towards threat was found with a split-half reliability of 0.90, and 0.89 after outlier removal. Avoidance of threat in blocks with a task-relevant bias away from threat was correlated with anxiety, with correction for multiple testing. The same relationship was nominally significant for depression and low self-esteem. In conclusion, we showed high reliability of spatial attentional bias that was related to anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Edward Gladwin
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Institute of Lifecourse Development, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom; University of Chichester, Chichester, United Kingdom.
| | - Monika Halls
- University of Chichester, Chichester, United Kingdom
| | - Matthijs Vink
- Departments of Developmental and Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Myruski S, Cho H, Bikson M, Dennis-Tiwary TA. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Augments the Effects of Gamified, Mobile Attention Bias Modification. FRONTIERS IN NEUROERGONOMICS 2021; 2:652162. [PMID: 38235222 PMCID: PMC10790837 DOI: 10.3389/fnrgo.2021.652162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Anxiety-related attention bias (AB) is the preferential processing of threat observed in clinical and sub-clinical anxiety. Attention bias modification training (ABMT) is a computerized cognitive training technique designed to systematically direct attention away from threat and ameliorate AB, but mixed and null findings have highlighted gaps in our understanding of mechanisms underlying ABMT and how to design the most effective delivery systems. One neuromodulation technique, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) across the pre-frontal cortex (PFC) may augment the effects of ABMT by strengthening top-down cognitive control processes, but the evidence base is limited and has not been generalized to current approaches in digital therapeutics, such as mobile applications. The present study was a single-blind randomized sham-controlled design. We tested whether tDCS across the PFC, vs. sham stimulation, effectively augments the beneficial effects of a gamified ABMT mobile app. Thirty-eight adults (Mage = 23.92, SD = 4.75; 18 females) evidencing low-to-moderate anxiety symptoms were randomly assigned to active or sham tDCS for 30-min while receiving ABMT via a mobile app. Participants reported on potential moderators of ABMT, including life stress and trait anxiety. ECG was recorded during a subsequent stressor to generate respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) suppression as a metric of stress resilience. ABMT delivered via the app combined with tDCS (compared to sham) reduced AB and boosted stress resilience measured via RSA suppression, particularly for those reporting low life stress. Our results integrating tDCS with ABMT provide insight into the mechanisms of AB modulation and support ongoing evaluations of enhanced ABMT reliability and effectiveness via tDCS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Myruski
- The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, United States
| | - Hyein Cho
- Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, United States
- The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY, United States
| | - Marom Bikson
- City College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, United States
| | - Tracy A. Dennis-Tiwary
- Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, United States
- The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY, United States
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Kappenman ES, Geddert R, Farrens JL, McDonald JJ, Hajcak G. Recoiling from Threat: Anxiety is Related to Heightened Suppression of Threat, Not Increased Attention to Threat. Clin Psychol Sci 2021; 9:434-448. [PMID: 34476132 DOI: 10.1177/2167702620961074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Increased attention to threat is considered a core feature of anxiety. However, there are multiple mechanisms of attention and multiple types of threat, and the relationships among attention, threat, and anxiety are poorly understood. The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to separately isolate attentional selection (N2pc) and suppression (PD) of pictorial threats (photos of weapons, snakes, etc.) and conditioned threats (colored shapes paired with electric shock). In a sample of 48 young adults, both threat types were initially selected for increased attention (an N2pc), but only conditioned threats elicited subsequent suppression (a PD) and a reaction time (RT) bias. Levels of trait anxiety were unrelated to N2pc amplitude, but increased anxiety was associated with larger PDs (i.e., greater suppression) and reduced RT bias to conditioned threats. These results suggest that anxious individuals do not pay more attention to threats, but rather engage more attentional suppression to overcome threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily S Kappenman
- San Diego State University, Department of Psychology, San Diego, CA, 92120
| | | | - Jaclyn L Farrens
- San Diego State University, Department of Psychology, San Diego, CA, 92120
| | - John J McDonald
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5A 1S6
| | - Greg Hajcak
- Department of Biomedical Science and Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306
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Hang Y, Xu L, Wang C, Zhang G, Zhang N. Can attention bias modification augment the effect of CBT for anxiety disorders? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychiatry Res 2021; 299:113892. [PMID: 33799125 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Attention Bias Modification (ABM) is a novel computerized therapy for anxiety disorders and is thought to augment the effect of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) as it may target different mechanisms. Recently, a growing number of studies have examined the combined effects of ABM and CBT on clinically anxious patients, with mixed results. This review examined the combined efficacy of ABM and CBT. A literature search was conducted in four main databases: PsycINFO, Embase, Pubmed and the Cochrane library, resulting in 11 randomized studies. The combination of ABM and CBT had small but significant effects on clinician-rated anxiety symptoms and attention bias towards threat compared to the control group, while ESs for anxiety (all measures), self-reported or parent-reported anxiety measures and depression symptoms were non-significant. Studies in which ABM was conducted as an integral part of each CBT session yielded greater reduction in anxiety symptoms than those conducting ABM and CBT at separate time points. Older participants and patients with social anxiety disorder tended to benefit less from the combination of ABM and CBT based on bias scores. This study may provide preliminary evidence that ABM and CBT have the potential to complement each other, especially when they are conducted integrally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaming Hang
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China; Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Li Xu
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China; Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Chun Wang
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China; Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Institute of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China; Functional Brain Imaging Institute of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
| | - Guojia Zhang
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China; Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Ning Zhang
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Institute of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China; Functional Brain Imaging Institute of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
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Yap D, Denefrio S, Dennis-Tiwary TA. Low working memory load facilitates attention bias modification training. Behav Res Ther 2021; 139:103828. [PMID: 33618124 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2019] [Revised: 12/27/2020] [Accepted: 02/06/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Implementations of attention bias modification training (ABMT) attempt to retrain attention away from rather than towards threat, thereby disrupting the anxiety-related attentional bias (AB). Yet, results of ABMT studies have been mixed due to limitations in knowledge of mechanisms underlying ABMT efficacy. Dual-process models of anxiety posit that ABMT works primarily through strengthening of the top-down cognitive control of attention to threat. If this is the case, introducing a working memory load (WML) during ABMT should reduce training efficacy. However, prior studies employing this method show mixed results (Booth, Mackintosh, Mobini, Oztop, & Nunn, 2014; Clarke et al., 2017) and fail to directly compare low and high WML with no WML or to account for individual differences in anxiety and working memory capacity (WMC). The present study (N = 306) assessed trait anxiety and WMC in neurotypical adults who were then randomly assigned to ABMT that trained attention toward or away from threat, with either no, low, or high WML, for a total of six training groups. Attentional bias was assessed before and after training. Results showed ABMT successfully trained attention under low WML, but not under high or no WML, suggesting that ABMT is facilitated by engaging but not overtaxing WML.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Yap
- Hunter College, The City University of New York, Department of Psychology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Samantha Denefrio
- Hunter College, The City University of New York, Department of Psychology, New York, NY, USA; The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, Department of Psychology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tracy A Dennis-Tiwary
- Hunter College, The City University of New York, Department of Psychology, New York, NY, USA; The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, Department of Psychology, New York, NY, USA.
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Carlson JM. A systematic review of event-related potentials as outcome measures of attention bias modification. Psychophysiology 2021; 58:e13801. [PMID: 33682161 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Attention bias modification (ABM) was initially developed with the goal of reducing attentional bias to threat-and subsequently anxious symptoms-in individuals with heightened anxiety. Although controversial, ABM appears to be generally effective in achieving this goal. Yet, the primary outcome measure of ABM (i.e., the reaction time-based differences score) has poor reliability and temporal resolution, which limits the inferences that can be drawn. In contrast, event-related potentials (ERPs) have superior reliability as well as temporal resolution and may therefore be better outcome measures of ABM. In this review, I systematically assess the research using ERPs as outcome measures in ABM protocols. I focus on the extent to which the ERPs modified by ABM represent earlier or later stages of information processing. In addition, I explore the extent to which ABM produces near and/or far transfer of learning effects on ERP measures. The reviewed literature suggests that ERPs are promising outcome measures of ABM. ABM modulates the effects of affective stimuli on posterior visually evoked ERPs (i.e., P1) as well as ERPs at anterior electrodes (i.e., P2, N2, and ERN). Based on the state of the field, several directions for future research are identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua M Carlson
- Department of Psychological Science, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI, USA
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MacLellan A, Derakshan N. The Effects of Stoic Training and Adaptive Working Memory Training on Emotional Vulnerability in High Worriers. COGNITIVE THERAPY AND RESEARCH 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10608-020-10183-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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42
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Stuijfzand S, Stuijfzand B, Reynolds S, Dodd H. Anxiety-Related Attention Bias in Four- to Eight-Year-Olds: An Eye-Tracking Study. Behav Sci (Basel) 2020; 10:bs10120194. [PMID: 33348888 PMCID: PMC7766356 DOI: 10.3390/bs10120194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2020] [Revised: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: There is evidence of an attention bias–anxiety relationship in children, but lack of appropriate methods has limited the number of studies with children younger than eight years old. This study used eye tracking as a measure of overt attention in young children. The aim of this study was to assess anxiety-related attention bias in children aged four to eight years. Age was considered a moderator, and the influence of effortful control was investigated. (2) Method: A community sample of 104 children was shown pairs of happy–neutral and angry–neutral faces. Growth curve analyses were used to examine patterns of gaze over time. (3) Results: Analyses revealed moderation by age and anxiety, with distinct patterns of anxiety-related biases seen in different age groups in the angry–neutral face trials. Effortful control did not account for age-related effects. (4) Conclusions: The results support a moderation model of the development of anxiety in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzannah Stuijfzand
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire RG6 6AH, UK; (S.S.); (S.R.)
| | | | - Shirley Reynolds
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire RG6 6AH, UK; (S.S.); (S.R.)
| | - Helen Dodd
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire RG6 6AH, UK; (S.S.); (S.R.)
- Correspondence:
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Novák O, Bártová K, Vagenknecht V, Klapilová K. Attention Bias and Recognition of Sexual Images. Front Psychol 2020; 11:556071. [PMID: 33224052 PMCID: PMC7667049 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.556071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Attention to sexual stimuli is necessary for the development of sexual response, yet while there is some evidence of attention bias in favor of sexual stimuli, the direction and magnitude of the effect remain unknown. A high-powered sample of 113 participants was tested using the dot-probe task (DPT) and picture recognition task (PRT) to measure visuospatial attention to erotic images. Participants showed no attention bias in the DPT (rB = 0.201, p = 0.064) but were significantly better at recognizing erotic rather than neutral or training pictures (d = 1.445 and 1.461, respectively, both p < 0.001). This indicates that spatial attention bias to sexual pictures is small, negligible, possibly even non-existent, or else the DPT is not a reliable tool to assess it. Results of the PRT, on the other hand, show that sexual stimuli are prioritized in memory and this should be explored in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ondřej Novák
- Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czechia.,Laboratory of Evolutionary Sexology and Psychopathology, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia
| | - Klára Bártová
- Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | | | - Kateřina Klapilová
- Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czechia.,Laboratory of Evolutionary Sexology and Psychopathology, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia
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Basanovic J, Kaiko I, MacLeod C. Change in Attentional Control Predicts Change in Attentional Bias to Negative Information in Response to Elevated State Anxiety. COGNITIVE THERAPY AND RESEARCH 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10608-020-10176-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Experimental Psychopathology at the Crossroads: Reflections on Past, Present, and Future Contributions to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Int J Cogn Ther 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s41811-020-00093-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Rubin M, Minns S, Muller K, Tong MH, Hayhoe MM, Telch MJ. Avoidance of social threat: Evidence from eye movements during a public speaking challenge using 360°- video. Behav Res Ther 2020; 134:103706. [PMID: 32920165 PMCID: PMC7530106 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Social anxiety (SA) is thought to be maintained in part by avoidance of social threat, which exacerbates fear of negative evaluation. Yet, relatively little research has been conducted to evaluate the connection between social anxiety and attentional processes in realistic contexts. The current pilot study examined patterns of attention (eye movements) in a commonly feared social context - public speaking. Participants (N = 84) with a range of social anxiety symptoms gave an impromptu five-minute speech in an immersive 360°-video environment, while wearing a virtual reality headset equipped with eye-tracking hardware. We found evidence for the expected interaction between fear of public speaking and social threat (uninterested vs. interested audience members). Consistent with prediction, participants with greater fear of public speaking looked fewer times at uninterested members of the audience (high social threat) compared to interested members of the audience (low social threat) b = 0.418, p = 0.046, 95% CI [0.008, 0.829]. Analyses of attentional indices over the course of the speech revealed that the interaction between fear of public speaking and gaze on audience members was only significant in the first three-minutes. Our results provide support for theoretical models implicating avoidance of social threat as a maintaining factor in social anxiety. Future research is needed to test whether guided attentional training targeting in vivo attentional avoidance may improve clinical outcomes for those presenting with social anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikael Rubin
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Sean Minns
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Karl Muller
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Matthew H Tong
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Mary M Hayhoe
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Michael J Telch
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA.
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Klawohn J, Hajcak G, Amir N, Kathmann N, Riesel A. Application of attentional bias modification training to modulate hyperactive error-monitoring in OCD. Int J Psychophysiol 2020; 156:79-86. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Revised: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 07/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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Ma L, Kruijt AW, Ek AK, Åbyhammar G, Furmark T, Andersson G, Carlbring P. Seeking neutral: A VR-based person-identity-matching task for attentional bias modification - A randomised controlled experiment. Internet Interv 2020; 21:100334. [PMID: 32904341 PMCID: PMC7452567 DOI: 10.1016/j.invent.2020.100334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Attentional bias modification (ABM) aims to reduce anxiety by attenuating bias towards threatening information. The current study incorporated virtual reality (VR) technology and 3-dimensional stimuli with a person-identity-matching (PIM) task to evaluate the effects of a VR-based ABM training on attentional bias and anxiety symptoms. METHODS One hundred participants with elevated social anxiety were randomised to four training groups. Attentional bias was assessed at pre- and post-training, and anxiety symptoms were assessed at pre-training, post-training, 1-week follow-up, and 3-month follow-up. RESULTS Change in anxiety did not correlate with change in bias (r = -0.08). A repeated-measures ANOVA showed no significant difference in bias from pre- to post-ABM, or between groups. For anxiety symptoms, a linear mixed-effects model analysis revealed a significant effect of time. Participants showed reduction in anxiety score at each successive assessment (p < .001, Nagelkerke's pseudo r 2 = 0.65). However, no other significant main effect or interactions were found. A clinically significant change analysis revealed that 4% of participants were classified as 'recovered' at 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS A single session of VR-based PIM task did not change attentional bias. The significant reduction in anxiety was not specific to active training, and the majority of participants remained clinically unchanged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lichen Ma
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Frescativägen, 114 19 Stockholm, Sweden,Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Anne-Wil Kruijt
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Frescativägen, 114 19 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anna-Karin Ek
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 256, 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Gustaf Åbyhammar
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 256, 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tomas Furmark
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 256, 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Gerhard Andersson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Solnavägen 1, 171 77 Solna, Stockholm, Sweden,Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Per Carlbring
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Frescativägen, 114 19 Stockholm, Sweden
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Attentional bias towards negative stimuli in healthy individuals and the effects of trait anxiety. Sci Rep 2020; 10:11826. [PMID: 32678129 PMCID: PMC7367300 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68490-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the time course of attentional bias for negative information in healthy individuals and to assess the associated influence of trait anxiety. Thirty-eight healthy volunteers performed an emotional dot-probe task with pairs of negative and neutral scenes, presented for either 1 or 2 s and followed by a target placed at the previous location of either negative or neutral stimulus. Analyses included eye movements during the presentation of the scenes and response times associated with target localization. In a second step, analyses focused on the influence of trait anxiety. While there was no significant difference at the behavioral level, the eye-tracking data revealed that negative information held longer attention than neutral stimuli once fixated. This initial maintenance bias towards negative pictures then increased with increasing trait anxiety. However, at later processing stages, only individuals with the highest trait anxiety appeared to fixate longer on negative pictures than neutral pictures, individuals with low trait anxiety showing the opposite pattern. This study provides novel evidence that healthy individuals display an attentional maintenance bias towards negative stimuli, which is associated with trait anxiety.
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Attentional threat biases and their role in anxiety: A neurophysiological perspective. Int J Psychophysiol 2020; 153:148-158. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2019] [Revised: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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