Abstract
Attentional bias for threat (ABT) has been implicated as a central mechanism underpinning anxiety. However, documented inconsistencies in the link between ABT and anxiety do not support a purely psychopathological view of ABT. While ABT is thought to be concomitant with the tendency to be less attentive to positive stimuli, neuroimaging evidence for the functional independence of positive and negative information-processing systems suggests this need not be the case. This may hold important implications for understanding the inconsistently observed ABT-anxiety link. To this end, the current study examined whether qualitative differences in positive attentional biases captured on a dot probe task would moderate the association between ABT and anxiety (N = 232). Findings indicated that ABT (indexed within the same task) was associated with self-reported anxiety only among persons characterised by an attentional bias away from positive stimuli, but not those characterised by an attentional bias towards positive stimuli. However, positive attentional biases did not independently predict anxiety, suggesting this selective association occurred against a backdrop of individuals experiencing similar levels of anxiety. Present findings hold implications for the design of behavioural training programs which target anxiety though the reduction of ABT, and emphasise the complex origins of anxiety.
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Data associated with this manuscript is available at https://osf.io/su5r7.
Notes
Assessment and therapeutic variants of the dot probe task differ primarily in the frequency with which the probe replaces the competing, non-emotional stimulus.
IAPS identification codes for images used in emotional-neutral trials: Fear – 1120, 1930, 5971, 2770, 6250, 6370; Sad – 9184, 9340, 9561, 2141, 2205, 2900; Happy – 1463, 1710, 7492, 8461, 2340, 2347; Neutral – 5471, 7036, 7041, 7185, 7500, 7705, 7550, 7050, 7080, 7187, 2440, 2575, 2745.1, 2383, 2393, 2396. Two neutral images were sourced from free online stock photo databases and are available upon request. All pictures used were assigned a common emotional label by >75% of raters (Wei et al., 2020).
Although continuous data for Happy bias score was presently available, a decision was made to treat the moderating variable as categorical (i.e. qualitatively different Positive bias groups; towards and away) to facilitate ease of interpretation and integration with extant literature (Bradley et al., 1998; Bradley et al., 1999; Ioannou, Mogg, & Bradley, 2004; Pishyar, Harris, & Menzies, 2004).
This model was also tested with an extreme groups approach to Positive bias group (i.e. with persons with Happy bias scores between −5 and + 5 removed from analyses). Results did not differ from that observed with Positive bias group as presently demarcated.
The following variables were also tested and did not yield significant group differences between retained and excluded participants: Age, Gender, Diagnostic history, Positive bias group, and Sad bias score.
Given known relationships between attentional biases for sadness-related information and depressive syndromes, the correlation between the Sad bias score and DASS-21 Depression scores available on hand was also examined. The null finding (r = −.04, p = .51) supports the specificity of the Sad bias score association with anxiety, and corroborates the broader literature on the distinct time course of attentional biases in anxiety and depression (see Mogg & Bradley, 2005 for a review).
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Wei, M., Roodenrys, S. & Miller, L. Positive attentional biases moderate the link between attentional bias for threat and anxiety. Curr Psychol 42, 670–680 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01448-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01448-6