Attentional Bias For Threat Research Articles

A multilevel examination of an inhibitory retrieval approach to exposure: Differentiating the unique and combined effects of multiple-context and multiple-stimulus cues

Background and objectivesA proposed strategy for attenuating the return of fear is conducting exposure therapy in multiple contexts (e.g., different locations), which is believed to enhance the generalizability of safety learning. Although conducting exposure in multiple contexts can be differentiated from conducting exposure with multiple stimuli, the two strategies are often conflated. Furthermore, researchers have not yet determined whether one of these strategies, or a combination thereof, is most effective in attenuating fear renewal. MethodsAccordingly, the present treatment-analogue study examined the unique and combined effects of multiple-context and multiple-stimulus imagery-based exposure manipulations on threat expectancy, behavioral approach/anxiety, and attentional bias for threat over Zoom. Community adults (N = 134) who met diagnostic criteria for snake phobia were randomized to exposure to a single snake in multiple environmental contexts (MC), exposure to multiple snakes in a single environmental context (MS), or exposure to multiple snakes in multiple environmental contexts (MS/MC). ResultsResults revealed significant reductions in threat expectancy and behavioral anxiety, but not attentional bias for threat in all three groups. However, behavioral approach declined over the course of exposure in the MS/MC condition but remained stable in the MC and MS conditions. There were no significant group differences in behavioral approach/anxiety or attentional bias at a one-week follow-up. However, participants in the MC condition reported lower threat expectancy at a one-week follow-up than the other groups and this group difference was partially mediated by lower mean distress during exposure. ConclusionsImplications of these findings for the inhibitory retrieval theory are discussed.

Visual features drive attentional bias for threat

ABSTRACT Past studies argued that the attentional capture by threats is hard to inhibit. When using threats as task-irrelevant stimuli, this effect can deteriorate performance on the primary task. Whether attentional capture is driven by affective information (threat) or visual features (shape) is still debated. Here we aimed to investigate the role of threat value and shape in modulating attentional resources by conducting two experiments (total N = 87). Participants engaged in a semantic vigilance task responding to masked words appearing at the centre of the screen while ignoring threat-relevant (threatening or visually similar but nonthreatening) and neutral control distractor images placed at different distances from the target word. We found no performance difference between participants exposed to threat-related stimuli via affective or shape features. Moreover, while performance decreased when a neutral distractor appeared close (compared to further away) to the target word, stimulus eccentricity had no effect when the distractor (irrespective of the conveying feature) was threat relevant. Our findings are in line with previous studies showing an initial capture of attention by threat-relevant information but that this negative effect is compensated by an increase in arousal. We conclude that even the visual features of a stimulus can modulate attention toward threats.

A novel probe of attentional bias for threat in specific phobia: Application of the “MouseView.js” approach

Although attentional bias for threat has been implicated in anxiety disorders, traditional attentional bias measures have been criticized for lack of reliability and validity, and eye tracking technologies can be cost-prohibitive. MouseView.js was recently developed to mimic eye tracking online by using the computer cursor as a proxy for gaze, and although it is equally reliable, MouseView.js’ utility for capturing attentional bias for threat in anxiety-related disorders remains unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, snake phobic and non-phobic participants (N = 62) completed a behavioral avoidance task (BAT) and the MouseView.js task which consisted of 10-second exposures to blurred, side-by-side images of either pleasant-neutral or threat-neutral pairings and were instructed to freely move the mouse to reveal the images. Results demonstrated that snake phobic participants had significantly shorter average mouse dwell time on threat images than non-phobic individuals and showed a significant reduction in average dwell time on threat images following the first presentation of the threat-neutral pairing. Additionally, dwell time on threat images significantly mediated the group differences in steps completed on the BAT. Results highlight the utility of MouseView.js in capturing avoidant patterns of attentional bias for threat that may also partially drive avoidance in snake phobia. Implications for capturing attentional bias for threat in anxiety disorders more broadly are discussed.

Derived generalization of attentional bias for laboratory-induced threat: Yes but.

There is laboratory evidence that fear conditioning underlies the emergence of attentional bias (AB) for threat. Our main objective was to test, for the first time, whether derived or symbolic responding contributes to the generalization of AB across non-conditioned stimuli. Participants were all university students (N = 86) with no pre-existing conditions. We first employed an exogenous cueing paradigm with two color slides (i.e., A1 or to-be CS+, and A2 or to-be CS-) serving as cues, and loud white noise serving as unconditioned stimulus during conditioning trials. We then employed a match-to-sample procedure to establish a derived equivalence relation between color A1 and arbitrary shape C1 as well as between color A2 and arbitrary shape C2. Next, we investigated the transfer of AB across non-conditioned stimuli: participants performed the same spatial cueing task with non-conditioned C1 and C2 stimuli serving as cues. Results replicated previous findings on the conditioning basis of AB, and most importantly, showed preliminary evidence of AB transfer: those participants who appraised C1 and not C2 as a signal of impending noise showed AB toward C1. This is the first laboratory demonstration that AB may generalize to stimuli physically unrelated to directly conditioned threats. Unfortunately, the small number of participants showing this effect calls for cautious considerations.

The relationship between emotional valence, anxiety, and attentional bias

Emotional expressions are an evolutionarily conserved means of social communication. It is well-established that emotional stimuli capture attention more easily than neutral stimuli, a phenomenon often referred to as “emotional attention”. However, contradictory findings of the “threat superiority effect” and the “happy face advantage” provoke questions about how emotional valence biases attentional capture. In addition, an enduring attentional bias toward threat is commonly observed in highly anxious individuals, but the exact type of anxiety—state or trait—that modulates the attentional bias for threat has not been agreed upon. To understand how the valence of emotional faces affects attentional capture and how the type of anxiety modulates emotional attention, we preregistered and conducted an online visual search experiment via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Participants (n=154) searched for a unique emotional face (happy or angry) among three or seven distractor faces that were closely cropped and balanced for low-level image statistics. Consistent with the “happy face advantage”, we found an attentional bias for positive over negative valence in visual search, robust at both set sizes, in accuracy, response time, and inverse efficiency score. We also found that the anxiety ratings from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)—both state and trait anxiety—correlated positively with search accuracy for angry targets, but negatively with search accuracy for happy targets. Given these opposing patterns of correlation, we further computed a valence index of emotional attention as a difference in search accuracy between angry and happy targets. This valence index correlated strongly with anxiety, suggesting that participants with higher anxiety showed more threat-related attentional bias and less attentional bias to stimuli with positive valence. Together, our findings reveal the role of emotional valence in attentional capture and unveil a distinct impact of anxiety on attention to positive and threatening stimuli.

Attentional bias toward negative stimuli in PTSD: an eye-tracking study.

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. 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. 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. 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.

Vigilance: A novel conditioned fear response that resists extinction

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.

Emotional induced attentional blink in trauma-exposed veterans: associations with trauma specific and nonspecific symptoms

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.

A Novel Probe of Attentional Bias for Threat in Specific Phobia: Application of the 'MouseView.js' Approach

A Novel Probe of Attentional Bias for Threat in Specific Phobia: Application of the 'MouseView.js' Approach

Attentional Bias to Threat: Examining Associations with Children's Emotional Regulation and Interactions with Intimate Partner Violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) in the home-a prevalent environmental risk for children-exemplifies a key factor that may alter the role of attentional bias to threat (ABT) in children's psychological adjustment. The current study aims to (1) examine potential variations in ABT and emotion regulation across animal and face stimuli and (2) test IPV as a potential moderator of the relationship between ABT and child outcomes. Participating children (N = 37) completed computerized tasks assessing ABT. Mothers provided data on IPV in the home, child victimization, and child emotion regulation. Children's ABT toward animal stimuli was not associated with emotion regulation; IPV significantly moderated the link between ABT and emotion regulation (β = - 0.06, p < .001). At low levels of IPV, children's ABT and emotion regulation were not related, but at high levels of IPV, ABT was negatively associated with emotion regulation skills. The relevance of ABT for understanding functioning may vary by both stimulus selection and by previous experiences of environmental risk.

Positive attentional biases moderate the link between attentional bias for threat and anxiety

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.

Emotional induced attentional blink in obsessive-compulsive disorder

BackgroundAlthough an attentional bias for threat is implicated in anxiety disorders, such a bias has not been consistently observed in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This inconsistency is partially due to a paucity of studies employing robust attentional tasks. The emotional attentional blink (EAB), a phenomenon in which the brief appearance of a task-irrelevant, emotionally arousing image captures attention to such an extent that target stimuli cannot be detected, have increasing been employed as more robust tasks of attentional biases. MethodsIn the present study, patients with OCD (n = 23) and controls (n = 24) completed an EAB paradigm that required searching for a target embedded within a series of rapidly presented images. Critically, a fear, disgust, positive, or neutral distracter image appeared 200 ms or 800 ms before the target (i.e., lag 2 and lag 8). ResultsAlthough accuracy was significantly reduced for control participants when emotionally arousing images served as distractors compare to neutral images at lag 2 (but not at lag 8), no statistically significant differences in accuracy were observed between emotionally arousing images and neutral images among those with OCD. Subsequent analysis did show that OCD symptoms across all participants was significantly correlated with difficulty disengaging from emotionally arousing, but not neutral, images. LimitationsRelatively small sample size and absence of personally-relevant threatening stimuli. ConclusionsThe reduced attentional capture by emotionally arousing images in OCD, relative to neutral images neutral, may suggest inefficient engagement and disengagement of attentional networks.

A Disruption in the Balance of Attentional Systems Plays a Role in Trait Anxiety.

Elevated levels of anxiety are associated with attentional threat biases and inefficient attentional control, with the latter requiring sustained cognitive effort. The current study assessed self-reported and behavioral evidence of attentional functioning, along with electrodermal activity (EDA; measured via changes in skin conductance level [SCL reactivity]) as an index of sympathetic arousal, to examine whether these vulnerabilities are evident among individuals with elevated trait anxiety (non-clinical). Fifty-nine participants completed a working memory span task measuring attentional control under high cognitive load. A visual change detection task assessed stimulus-driven attention as an indicator of vigilance to non-threatening visual information. Trait anxiety was self-reported. SCL was captured at rest and during the working memory task. Results revealed that trait anxiety was positively related to speed of visual change detection, without accuracy costs, suggesting enhanced vigilance for neutral visual information among those higher in trait anxiety. Trait anxiety also moderated the relation between change detection speed and attentional control, such that attentional vigilance was not associated with variation in attentional control for individuals higher in trait anxiety. However, for individuals lower in trait anxiety, vigilance was negatively associated with attention control. The relationship between vigilance and attentional control was also moderated by SCL reactivity such that the association was only significant at lower SCL reactivity levels. Taken together, results suggest that individuals higher in trait anxiety demonstrate greater attentional control in the service of visual detection, but greater attentional control may come at the cost of increased sympathetic arousal.

The relations among worry, meta-worry, intolerance of uncertainty and attentional bias for threat in men at high risk for generalized anxiety disorder: a network analysis

BackgroundImproving the psychotherapies for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is dependent on a deeper understanding of the relations between GAD and its associated cognitive factors. In the present study, we investigate how the core feature of GAD (i.e., worry) and its associated cognitive factors, such as meta-worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and attention bias towards threat, relate to each other in men at high risk for GAD.MethodsWe used network analysis to explore the relations among these variables in a cross-sectional sample of 122 men at high risk for generalized anxiety disorder. Specifically, we computed the expected influence and predictability of each variable.ResultsIn the final network, we found that worry and meta-worry had the highest expected influence and predictability. In contrast, attention bias towards threat showed the lowest expected influence and predictability. The estimates of the expected influence of the nodes were stable (correlation stability coefficient = 0.52).ConclusionsThe present study is the first to investigate the relations among worry, meta-worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and attention bias towards threat in men at high risk for generalized anxiety disorder. These findings indicate that worry and meta-worry may play important roles in the present network. The implications for clinical interventions and future studies are discussed.

0162 Mental Stress Compromises Human Sleep Through a Biological, Not Psychological, Pathway

Abstract Introduction The extent to which mental stress causes sleep disturbance is unknown as experimental studies of stress and sleep have yielded mixed results. Potential mechanisms linking stress to poor sleep are also poorly characterized. The current study aimed to 1) assess the impact of experimentally-induced mental stress on daytime sleep and 2) test candidate mechanisms including physiological and emotional stress reactivity, stress rumination, attentional threat bias, and insensitivity to future consequences. Methods Participants (N=30) were randomized to a control (n=14) or stress group (n=16). Both groups were given a 60-minute nap opportunity at midday (≈13:30). Prior to sleep, participants in the stress group completed a socially evaluative mental arithmetic stress task and were instructed that they would be required to give a brief speech upon awakening. Sleep was monitored with polysomnography and scored according to standard AASM criteria. Measures of heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and self-reported stress were recorded during the stress task. Self-reported stress rumination was measured upon awakening. Attentional threat bias was measured using an emotional dot probe and performance on the Iowa Gambling Task quantified insensitivity to future consequences. Results Acute mental stress significantly increased HR and BP (all p&amp;lt;.001, all Cohen’s d&amp;gt;1.24) and participants reported significant increases in self-reported stress (p&amp;lt;.001). The stress group exhibited longer sleep latency (p=.038, d=.82), shorter sleep duration (p=.044, d=.78), and worse sleep continuity (p=.045, d=.79). Subjective sleep quality was not different across groups (p=.39, d=.32). Of all candidate mechanisms, physiological reactivity was the only one significantly related to sleep measures. Greater HR reactivity predicted longer sleep latency (r=.37), shorter sleep duration (r=-.59), and worse sleep continuity (r=-.59). Conclusion Acute mental stress caused significant disturbances in a single episode of daytime sleep. The degree of disturbance was, to an extent, predicted by the amount of physiological reactivity to stress. Support This work was supported a Washington and Lee University Summer Lenfest Grant and the Summer Research Scholars Program.

Attentional Bias for Threat and Anxiety: The Role of Loneliness

Objective: There is literature to suggest that anxious individuals may be lonely. Attentional bias for threat (ABT), a mechanism implicated in the core symptoms of anxiety, has been linked to loneliness in a separate line of work. The primary aim of this study was to examine the role of loneliness in the association between ABT and anxiety. Method: An unselected sample of 260 individuals (196 Female; Mean Age = 22.43) completed measures of loneliness, ABT (a dot probe task), and anxiety. Two possible models of the role of loneliness in the ABT-anxiety link were tested using hierarchical regression analysis: (1) A moderation model (the ABT-anxiety link is moderated by loneliness), and (2) A proxy model (the ABT-anxiety link is better explained by loneliness). Results: In support of the latter model, ABT no longer predicted anxiety after the effects of loneliness had been accounted for. Additionally, ABT was associated with anxiety only when indexed using sadness-related scenes (but not fear-related scenes). Conclusions: Loneliness may be one important source of exaggerated threat appraisals which underpin the association between ABT and anxiety. Different classes of negative stimuli may be differentially sensitive to anxiety and should be a point of consideration in future research.

Attentional threat biases and their role in anxiety: A neurophysiological perspective

One of the most important function of selective attention is the efficient and accurate detection and identification of cues associated with threat. However, in pathological anxiety, this attentional mechanism seems to be dysfunctional, which leads to an exaggeration of threat processing and significant functional impairment. This attentional threat bias (ATB) has been proposed as a key mechanism in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Recently, evidence has accumulated that the behavioral assessment of ATB by means of reaction times is compromised by conceptual and methodological problems. In this review paper we argue that a brain-based assessment of ATB, which includes different mechanistic aspects of biased attention, may provide neuromechanistic knowledge regarding the etiology and maintenance of anxiety, and potentially start identifying different targets for effective treatment. We summarize examples for such an approach, highlighting the strengths of electrophysiological measurements, which include the sensitivity to time dynamics, specificity to specific neurocomputational mechanisms, and the continuous/dimensional nature of the resulting variables. These desirable properties are a prerequisite for developing trans-diagnostic biomarkers of attentional bias, and hence may inform individually tailored treatment approaches.

Spatial anticipatory attentional bias for threat: Reliable individual differences with RT-based online measurement.

Cues that predict the future location of emotional stimuli may evoke an anticipatory form of automatic attentional bias. The reliability of this bias towards threat is uncertain: experimental design may need to be optimized or individual differences may simply be relatively noisy in the general population. The current study therefore aimed to determine the split-half reliability of the bias, in a design with fewer factors and more trials than in previous work. A sample of 63 participants was used for analysis, who performed the cued Visual Probe Task online, which aims to measure an anticipatory attentional bias. The overall bias towards threat was tested and split-half reliability was calculated over even and odd blocks. Results showed a significant bias towards threat and a reliability of around 0.7. The results support systematic individual differences in anticipatory attentional bias and demonstrate that RT-based bias scores, with online data collection, can be reliable.

Gender Differences in Threat Biases: Trauma Type Matters in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Women are diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at twice the rate of men. This gender difference may be related to differences in PTSD experiences (e.g., more hypervigilance in women) or types of trauma experienced (e.g., interpersonal trauma). We examined whether attentional threat biases were associated with gender, PTSD diagnosis, and/or trauma type. Participants were 70 civilians and veterans (38 women, 32 men; 41 with PTSD, 29 without PTSD) assessed with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-IV who completed a facial dot-probe attention bias task and self-report measures of psychiatric symptoms and trauma history. Factorial ANOVA and regression models examined associations between gender, PTSD diagnosis, index trauma type, lifetime traumatic experiences, and attentional threat biases. Results revealed that compared to women without PTSD and men both with and without PTSD, women with PTSD demonstrated attentional biases toward threatening facial expressions, d = 1.19, particularly fearful expressions, d = 0.74. Psychiatric symptoms or early/lifetime trauma did not account for these attentional biases. Biases were related to interpersonal assault index traumas, ηp 2 = .13, especially sexual assault, d = 1.19. Trauma type may be an important factor in the development of attentional threat biases, which theoretically interfere with trauma recovery. Women may be more likely to demonstrate attentional threat biases due to higher likelihood of interpersonal trauma victimization rather than due to gender-specific psychobiological pathways. Future research is necessary to clarify if sexual assault alone or in combination with gender puts individuals at higher risk of developing PTSD.

Effects of vicarious disgust learning on the development of fear, disgust, and attentional biases in children.

Fear and disgust are defensive emotions that have evolved to protect us from harm. Whereas fear is thought to elicit an instinctive response to deal with immediate threat, disgust elicits immediate sensory rejection to avoid contamination. One mechanism through which disgust and fear may be linked is via attentional bias toward threat. Attentional bias is a well-established feature of anxiety disorders and is known to increase following vicarious fear learning. However, the contribution of vicarious learning to the development of disgust-related attentional biases is currently unknown. Furthermore, the influence of individual differences in disgust propensity and disgust sensitivity on fear and disgust responses has not been investigated in the context of vicarious learning. Therefore, 53 children aged 7-9 years were randomly assigned to receive either fear vicarious learning or disgust vicarious learning. Children's fear beliefs, disgust beliefs, avoidance preferences, and attentional bias were measured at baseline and postlearning. Findings demonstrated increased fear and disgust responding to stimuli following disgust and fear vicarious learning. Crucially, the study provided the first evidence that disgust vicarious learning can create an attentional bias for threat in children similar to that created via fear vicarious learning. However, there was no relationship between disgust propensity and sensitivity and vicariously acquired increases in fear, disgust, and attention. In conclusion, both fear and disgust vicarious learning can create attentional bias, allowing rapid detection of potentially harmful stimuli. This effect could contribute to fear development and is found even in children who are not particularly high in disgust proneness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).