Abstract
Attention and attention control are central to definitions of mindfulness and are implicated in the etiology and maintenance of social anxiety disorder, yet no study has examined the relationship among them within a clinical sample, the purpose of the current research. This study tested the hypothesis that self-reported trait mindfulness would be negatively correlated with overall attention bias towards threat and attention bias variability using a facial dot probe task. Forty-one adults diagnosed with social anxiety disorder completed the Mindfulness Attentional Awareness Scale and a facial dot probe task at two sessions one week apart. Average attention bias towards threat was measured using a traditional aggregate mean index (MacLeod et al., Journal of Abnormal Psychology 95:15–20, 1986) and using a newly developed index calculated with trial level bias scores (Zvielli et al., Clinical Psychological Science 3:772–788, 2015). Trial level bias scores were also used to measure attention bias variability. There were no significant correlations between mindfulness and the traditional index of attention bias (p’s > .05). There were significant negative correlations between trait mindfulness and attention bias towards threat, r = -.367, p = .018, as well as attention bias variability, r = -.430, p = .005, when calculated with trial level bias scores, but only at the second assessment. This study provides the first evidence of a link between trait mindfulness and mean attention bias towards threat and attention bias variability in adults with social anxiety disorder.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., & Toney, L. (2006). Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191105283504
Bantin, T., Stevens, S., Gerlach, A. L., & Hermann, C. (2016). What does the facial dot-probe task tell us about attentional processes in social anxiety? A systematic review. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 50, 40–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2015.04.009
Bardeen, J. R., Tull, M. T., Daniel, T. A., Evenden, J., & Stevens, E. N. (2016). A preliminary investigation of the time course of attention bias variability in posttraumatic stress disorder: The moderating role of attentional control. Behaviour Change, 33(2), 94–111. https://doi.org/10.1017/bec.2016.5
Bechor, M., Reeb-Sutherland, B. C., Silverman, W. K., Crowley, M. J., Ramos, M. L., & Pettit, J. W. (2018). Neural correlates of attentional processing of threat in youth with and without anxiety disorders. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47(1), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0424-8
Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. International Universities Press.
Black, D. S., Sussman, S., Johnson, C. A., & Milam, J. (2012). Psychometric assessment of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) among Chinese adolescents. Assessment, 19(1), 42–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191111415365
Bernstein, A., Hadash, Y., Lichtash, Y., Tanay, G., Shepherd, K., & Fresco, D. M. (2015). Decentering and related constructs: A critical review and metacognitive processes model. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(5), 599–617. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615594577
Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822–848. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822
Carmody, J., & Baer, R. A. (2008). Relationships between mindfulness practice and levels of mindfulness, medical and psychological symptoms and well-being in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 31(1), 23–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-007-9130-7
Clark, D. M., & Wells, A. (1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. In R. G. Heimberg (Ed.), Social phobia: Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. Guilford Press.
Davis, M. L., Rosenfield, D., Bernstein, A., Zvielli, A., Reinecke, A., Beevers, G., … Reinecke, A. (2016). Attention bias dynamics and symptom severity during and following CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(9), 795–802. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000125
Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M. G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory. Emotion, 7(2), 336–353. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.336
First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., & Williams, J. (2002). Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I disorders, research version. New York: Biometrics Research New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Garland, E. L., Boettiger, C. A., Gaylord, S., Chanon, V. W., & Howard, M. O. (2012). Mindfulness is inversely associated with alcohol attentional bias among recovering alcohol-dependent adults. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(5), 441–450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-011-9378-7
Garland, E. L., Hanley, A. W., Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2017). Testing the mindfulness-to-meaning theory: Evidence for mindful positive emotion regulation from a reanalysis of longitudinal data. PLoS ONE, 12(12), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187727
Garland, E. L., & Howard, M. O. (2013). Mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement reduces pain attentional bias in chronic pain patients. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 82(5), 311–318. https://doi.org/10.1159/000348868
Goldin, P., & Gross, J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 10(1), 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018441
Gupta, R. S., Kujawa, A., & Vago, D. R. (2019). The neural chronometry of threat-related attentional bias: Event-related potential (ERP) evidence for early and late stages of selective attentional processing. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 146, 20–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.08.006
Hölzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(6), 537–559. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691611419671
Iacoviello, B. M., Wu, G., Abend, R., Murrough, J., Feder, A., Fruchter, E., … Charney, D. S. (2014). Attention bias variability and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 27, 232–239. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.
Jones, A., Christiansen, P., & Field, M. (2018). Failed attempts to improve the reliability of the alcohol visual probe task following empirical recommendations. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 32, 922–932. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000414
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593–602.
Mathews, A., & MacLeod, C. (2002). Induced processing biases have causal effects on anxiety, 16(3), 331–354. Cognition and Emotion, 95(1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930143000518
MacLeod, C., Mathews, A., & Tata, P. (1986). Attentional bias in emotional disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95(1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.95.1.15
Miller, J. J., Fletcher, K., Ph, D., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (1995). Three-year follow-up and clinical implications of a mindfulness stress reduction intervention in the treatment of anxiety disorders. General Hospital Psychiatry, 17, 192–200.
Mogg, K., & Bradley, B. P. (1998). A cognitive-motivational analysis of anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36(9), 809–848. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00063-1
Mohlman, J., & DeVito, A. (2017). The impact of social threat cues on a card sorting task with attentional-shifting demands. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 57, 45–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2017.02.004
Molloy, A., & Anderson, P. L. (2020). Evaluating the reliability of attention bias and attention bias variability measures in the dot-probe task among people with Social Anxiety Disorder. Psychological Assessment, 32(9), 883–888. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000912
Moriya, J., & Tanno, Y. (2008). Relationships between negative emotionality and attentional control in effortful control. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(6), 1348–1355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.12.003
Morrison, A. S., Brozovich, F. A., Lakhan-Pal, S., Jazaieri, H., Goldin, P. R., Heimberg, R. G., & Gross, J. J. (2016). Attentional blink impairment in social anxiety disorder: Depression comorbidity matters. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 50, 209–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2015.08.006
Morrison, A. S., & Heimberg, R. G. (2013). Social anxiety and social anxiety disorder. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 9, 249–274. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185631
Naim, R., Abend, R., Wald, I., Eldar, S., Levi, O., Fruchter, E., Ginat, K., Halpern, P., Sipos, M. L., Adler, A. B., Bliese, P. D., Quartana, P. J., Pine, D. S., & Bar-Haim, Y. (2015). Threat-related attention bias variability and posttraumatic stress. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(12), 1242–1250. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.14121579
Nock, M. K., Hwang, I., Sampson, N. A., & Kessler, R. C. (2010). Mental disorders, comorbidity and suicidal behavior: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Molecular Psychiatry, 15(8), 868–876. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2009.29
Price, R. B., Kuckertz, J. M., Siegle, G. J., Ladouceur, C. D., Silk, J. S., Ryan, N. D., & Dahl, R. E. (2015). Empirical Recommendations for Improving the Stability of the Dot-Probe Task in Clinical Research, 27(2), 365–376.
Quaglia, J. T., Goodman, R. J., & Brown, K. W. (2016). Trait mindfulness predicts efficient top-down attention to and discrimination of facial expressions. Journal of Personality, 84(3), 393–404. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12167
Ramel, W., Goldin, P. R., Carmona, P. E., & McQuaid, J. R. (2004). The effects of mindfulness meditation on cognitive processes and affect in patients with past depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 28(4), 433–455. https://doi.org/10.0147/5916/04/0800-0433/0
Rapee, R. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997). A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35(8), 741–756. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(97)00022-3
Rodebaugh, T. L., Scullin, R. B., Langer, J. K., & Dixon, D. J. (2017). Unreliability as a threat to understanding psychopathology: The cautionary tale of attentional bias. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125(6), 840–851. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000184
Schmukle, S. C. (2005). Unreliability of the dot probe task. European Journal of Personality, 19(7), 595–605. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.554
Schneier, F. R., Kimeldorf, M. B., Choo, T. H., Steinglass, J. E., Wall, M. M., Fyer, A. J., & Simpson, H. B. (2016). Attention bias in adults with anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 79, 61–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2016.04.009
Stein, M. B., & Kean, Y. M. (2000). Disability and quality of life in social phobia: Epidemiologic findings. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(10), 1606–1613. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.157.10.1606
Vago, D. R., & Nakamura, Y. (2011). Selective attentional bias towards pain-related threat in fibromyalgia: Preliminary evidence for effects of mindfulness meditation training. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 35(6), 581–594. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-011-9391-x
van den Hurk, P. A., Giommi, F., Gielen, S. C., Speckens, A. E., & Barendregt, H. P. (2010). Greater efficiency in attentional processing related to mindfulness meditation. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63(6), 1168–1180. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470210903249365
Wieser, M. J., Pauli, P., & Mühlberger, A. (2009). Probing the attentional control theory in social anxiety: An emotional saccade task. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 9(3), 314–322. https://doi.org/10.3758/CABN.9.3.314
Zvielli, A., Bernstein, A., & Koster, E. H. W. (2015). Temporal dynamics of attentional bias. Clinical Psychological Science, 3(5), 772–788. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702614551572
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualization: Grace Packard, Anthony Molloy, Page Anderson; Methodology: Page Anderson; Formal analysis and investigation: Anthony Molloy, Grace Packard; Writing – original draft preparation: Grace Packard, Anthony Molloy; Page Anderson; Writing – review and editing; Anthony Molloy, Page Anderson; Funding acquisition: Grace Packard; Supervision: Page Anderson.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Packard, G., Molloy, A. & Anderson, P.L. Trait mindfulness is related to attention bias toward threat and attention bias variability in social anxiety disorder. Curr Psychol 42, 15287–15294 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02817-5
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02817-5