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Citation
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Sagliano L, Trojano L, Mauro VD, Carnevale P, Domenico MD, Cozzolino C, D'Olimpio F. Anxiety Stress Coping 2018; 31(1): 69-78. |
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Abstract
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Background : Previous studies suggested that affective state could enhance stimulus salience and modulate attention allocation for mood-congruent information, but contrasting data have been reported on the effects of mood induction on attentional biases for threat (ABTs) in non-clinical individuals.
OBJECTIVE : We aimed to assess whether laboratory-induced negative mood can increase individuals' tendency to allocate attention on threatening stimuli, thus determining a difficulty in attentional disengagement from threat. We also aimed at assessing whether level of trait anxiety could modulate the effect of mood induction on attentional biases.
METHODS : We used an autobiographical episode recall procedure for mood induction (fear, happiness and neutral episode recall), and an exogenous cueing task with threatening and non-threatening images to assess attentional biases in 120 undergraduate students.
RESULTS: Participants showed a significant difficulty in disengaging attention from threat after recalling fear-related episodes, independently from their trait anxiety level.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings clarify that the ABTs are not exclusive to anxiety disorders or high trait anxiety individuals, and could also arise in non-clinical individuals in a fearful context.
Language: en |