Attentional bias towards interpersonal aggression in depression – an eye movement study.
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| Title: | Attentional bias towards interpersonal aggression in depression – an eye movement study. |
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| Authors: | Rantanen, Matti, Hautala, Jarkko, Loberg, Otto, Nuorva, Jaakko, Hietanen, Jari K., Nummenmaa, Lauri, Astikainen, Piia |
| Source: | Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. Oct2021, Vol. 62 Issue 5, p639-647. 9p. 2 Diagrams, 2 Charts. |
| Subjects: | Mental depression, Psychotherapy patients, Social perception, Analysis of variance, Avoidance conditioning, Interpersonal relations, Psychosocial factors, Descriptive statistics, Repeated measures design, Aggression (Psychology), Anxiety, Attentional bias, Psychological stress |
| Abstract: | Depressed individuals exhibit an attentional bias towards mood‐congruent stimuli, yet evidence for biased processing of threat‐related information in human interaction remains scarce. Here, we tested whether an attentional bias towards interpersonally aggressive pictures over interpersonally neutral pictures could be observed to a greater extent in depressed participants than in control participants. Eye movements were recorded while the participants freely viewed visually matched interpersonally aggressive and neutral pictures, which were presented in pairs. Across the groups, participants spent more time looking at neutral pictures than at aggressive pictures, probably reflecting avoidance behavior. When the participants could anticipate the stimulus valence, depressed participants – but not controls – showed an early attentional bias towards interpersonally aggressive pictures, as indexed by their longer first fixation durations on aggressive pictures than on neutral pictures. Our results thus preliminarily suggest both an early attentional bias towards interpersonal aggression, which is present, in depressed participants, also when aggression contents are anticipated, and a later attentional avoidance of aggression. The early depression‐related bias in information processing may have maladaptive effects on the way depressed individuals perceive and function in social interaction and can, therefore, maintain depressed mood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Scandinavian Journal of Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Depressed individuals exhibit an attentional bias towards mood‐congruent stimuli, yet evidence for biased processing of threat‐related information in human interaction remains scarce. Here, we tested whether an attentional bias towards interpersonally aggressive pictures over interpersonally neutral pictures could be observed to a greater extent in depressed participants than in control participants. Eye movements were recorded while the participants freely viewed visually matched interpersonally aggressive and neutral pictures, which were presented in pairs. Across the groups, participants spent more time looking at neutral pictures than at aggressive pictures, probably reflecting avoidance behavior. When the participants could anticipate the stimulus valence, depressed participants – but not controls – showed an early attentional bias towards interpersonally aggressive pictures, as indexed by their longer first fixation durations on aggressive pictures than on neutral pictures. Our results thus preliminarily suggest both an early attentional bias towards interpersonal aggression, which is present, in depressed participants, also when aggression contents are anticipated, and a later attentional avoidance of aggression. The early depression‐related bias in information processing may have maladaptive effects on the way depressed individuals perceive and function in social interaction and can, therefore, maintain depressed mood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 00365564 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/sjop.12735 |
