Citation

Chen NTM, Clarke PJF. Curr. Psychiatry Rep. 2017; 19(9): 59.

Affiliation

School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Bentley, Perth, WA, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11920-017-0808-4

PMID

28726063

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: A broad base of research has sought to identify the biases in selective attention which characterize social anxiety, with the emergent use of eye tracking-based methods. This article seeks to provide a review of eye tracking studies examining selective attention biases in social anxiety. RECENT FINDINGS: Across a number of contexts, social anxiety may be associated with a mix of both vigilant and avoidant patterns of attention with respect to the processing of emotional social stimuli. Socially anxious individuals may additionally avoid maintaining eye contact and may exhibit a generalized vigilance via hyperscanning of their environment. The findings highlight the utility of eye tracking methods for increasing understanding of the gaze-based biases which characterize social anxiety disorder, with promising avenues for future research.

Language: en

Keywords

Attentional bias; Avoidance; Eye contact; Eye tracking; Social anxiety; Vigilance