The role of negative affect in the association between attention bias to threat and posttraumatic stress: An eye-tracking study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Yara Mekawi, Emory University; Lauren Murphy, Emory University; Adam Munoz, Emory University; Maria Briscione, Emory University; Erin B. Tone, Georgia State University; Seth Norrholm, Emory University; Tanja Jovanovic, Emory University; Bekh Bradley-Davino, Emory University; Abigail Lott, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-02-01
• Publisher: Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112674
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Psychiatry Research
• Volume: 284
• Start Page: 112674
• End Page: 112674
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (MH071537; MH100122; MH102890); National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD071982); National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health (K23AT009713).
• Keywords: Psychiatry; Exposure; Time-course; PTSD treatment; Attention bias; Anxiety; Impaired fear inhibition; Negative affect; PTSD symptoms; Primary care; Symptom severity; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Disorder; Science & Technology; Eye-tracking; Emotion regulation difficulties; African Americans
• Research Categories: Psychology, Cognitive; Health Sciences, Rehabilitation and Therapy; Health Sciences, Mental Health; Psychology, Behavioral

Abstract

Biased processing of threatening stimuli, including attention toward and away from threat, has been implicated in the development and maintenance of PTSD symptoms. Research examining theoretically-derived mechanisms through which dysregulated processing of threat may be associated with PTSD is scarce. Negative affect, a transdiagnostic risk factor for many types of psychopathology, is one potential mechanism that has yet to be examined. Thus, the present study (n = 92) tested the indirect effect of attention bias on PTSD via negative affect using rigorous eye-tracking methodology in a sample of urban-dwelling, trauma-exposed African-American women. We found support for the hypothesis that attention bias toward threat was indirectly associated with PTSD symptoms through increased negative affect. These results suggest that negative affect may be an important etiological process through which attention bias patterns could impact PTSD symptom severity. Implications for psychological and pharmacological therapeutic interventions targeting threat-related attention biases and negative affect are discussed.