The role of attentional bias to threat in fear responding
It is relatively well-established that individual differences in the tendency to disproportionately allocate attentional resources to emotionally negative information is associated with clinical anxiety states and anxiety vulnerability (e.g., trait anxiety). Attentional biases towards threat, howeve...
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| Format: | Dissertation |
| Language: | English |
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ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
01-01-2002
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | It is relatively well-established that individual differences in the tendency to disproportionately allocate attentional resources to emotionally negative information is associated with clinical anxiety states and anxiety vulnerability (e.g., trait anxiety). Attentional biases towards threat, however, have received little empirical attention as possible predictive factors in anxiety vulnerability. The present experimental analogue investigation was designed to address the potential role of attentional bias towards threat in affecting fearful responding. Eighty-seven undergraduate participants completed measures of anxiety vulnerability (e.g., Anxiety Sensitivity Index) and then a series of unmasked and masked emotional Stroop tasks. These tasks were followed by two 30-second inhalations of 20% carbon-dioxide enriched air, intermixed with a second series of unmasked and masked emotional Stroop tasks. Finally, participants completed measures of anxious/fearful symptoms in relation to the carbon-dioxide challenge task. Regression analyses indicated that indices of attentional bias towards threat significantly predicted anxious/fearful responding to the challenge task. Furthermore, the attentional bias indices predicted symptomatic responding over-and-above anxiety sensitivity, a cognitive vulnerability factor shown in previous research to be predictive of vulnerability to anxious responding. Additionally, quantitative differences were observed between unmasked and masked bias indices. Specifically, the pre-CO2 masked bias index was predictive of symptomatic response, but its unique relation to the dependent symptom measure was weaker than its unmasked counterpart. Similarly, the CO 2-concurrent masked bias index demonstrated no significant relation to symptomatic response, whereas the unmasked CO2-concurrent bias index did. Post hoc analyses revealed a striking effect of sex on the prediction models. In particular, the ability of both anxiety sensitivity and attentional bias indices to predict symptomatic response to CO2 was greatly attributable to females. Overall, the findings of this investigation support the contention that attentional bias towards threat is a relatively independent and unique construct predictive of, and possibly causally related to, anxiety vulnerability. Suggestions for future research and possible avenues for consideration in clinical settings are discussed. |
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| ISBN: | 0493729119 9780493729114 |