Isolating delayed attentional disengagement from biased orienting to signals of threat in anxiety – not there yet
Abstract
ABSTRACT It is often argued that increased “attentional bias to threat” in anxiety is due to delayed attentional disengagement from threat stimuli, rather than increased attentional orienting towards such signals. In 2013, [Clarke, P. J. F., Macleod, C., & Guastella, A. J. (2013). Assessing the role of spatial engagement and disengagement of attention in anxiety-linked attentional bias: A critique of current paradigms and suggestions for future research directions. Anxiety, Stress and Coping: An International Journal, 26(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.638054] critiqued this literature, pointing out that most studies used paradigms that could not isolate attentional disengagement from attentional orienting. Since this critique, over fifty studies claiming to measure attentional disengagement from threat in anxiety have been published, many using suboptimal methods. In this (preregistered) systematic review and meta-analysis, we outline why many of these paradigms fail to provide a valid measure of attentional disengagement from stimuli with different emotional content. We also highlight studies where the paradigms and task parameters allowed for the valid measurement of attentional disengagement and include a meta-analysis (759 participants) of this subset. Some evidence was observed for slowed disengagement from threat images (relative to neutral) in high-anxious individuals, but heterogeneity across studies was high, and the effect disappeared when…
Read the paper
Related studies
- In silico strategies for modeling RNA aptamers and predicting binding sites of their molecular targets
- Folic acid-hydrophilic polymer coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles target doxorubicin delivery
- Anti-phytopathogenic and plant growth promoting potential of endophytic fungi isolated from Dysoxylum gotadhora
- Mercury toxicity causes iron and sulfur deficiencies along with oxidative injuries in alfalfa (Medicago sativa)
- Suppression of lncRNA GAS6-AS2 alleviates sepsis-related acute kidney injury through regulating the miR-136-5p/OXSR1 axis in vitro and in vivo
- Assessing the Protective Effect of Moringa oleifera Extract against Bone Metastasis: An In Vitro Simulated Digestion Approach
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.