Amit Lazarov1, Rany Abend2, Yair Bar-Haim3. 1. School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Electronic address: amitlaza@post.tau.ac.il. 2. School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel. 3. School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Identification of reliable targets for therapeutic interventions is essential for developing evidence-based therapies. Threat-related attention bias has been implicated in the etiology and maintenance of social anxiety disorder. Extant response-time-based threat bias measures have demonstrated limited reliability and internal consistency. Here, we examined gaze patterns of socially anxious and nonanxious participants in relation to social threatening and neutral stimuli using an eye-tracking task, comprised of multiple threat and neutral stimuli, presented for an extended time-period. We tested the psychometric properties of this task with the hope to provide a solid stepping-stone for future treatment development. METHODS:Eye gaze was tracked while participants freely viewed 60 different matrices comprised of eight disgusted and eight neutral facial expressions, presented for 6000ms each. Gaze patterns on threat and neutral areas of interest (AOIs) of participants with SAD, high socially anxious students and nonanxious students were compared. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were evaluated. RESULTS: Participants did not differ on first-fixation variables. However, overall, socially anxious students and participants with SAD dwelled significantly longer on threat faces compared with nonanxious participants, with no difference between the anxious groups. Groups did not differ in overall dwell time on neutral faces. Internal consistency of total dwell time on threat and neutral AOIs was high and one-week test-retest reliability was acceptable. LIMITATIONS: Only disgusted facial expressions were used. Relative small sample size. CONCLUSION:Social anxiety is associated with increased dwell time on socially threatening stimuli, presenting a potential target for therapeutic intervention.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Identification of reliable targets for therapeutic interventions is essential for developing evidence-based therapies. Threat-related attention bias has been implicated in the etiology and maintenance of social anxiety disorder. Extant response-time-based threat bias measures have demonstrated limited reliability and internal consistency. Here, we examined gaze patterns of socially anxious and nonanxious participants in relation to social threatening and neutral stimuli using an eye-tracking task, comprised of multiple threat and neutral stimuli, presented for an extended time-period. We tested the psychometric properties of this task with the hope to provide a solid stepping-stone for future treatment development. METHODS: Eye gaze was tracked while participants freely viewed 60 different matrices comprised of eight disgusted and eight neutral facial expressions, presented for 6000ms each. Gaze patterns on threat and neutral areas of interest (AOIs) of participants with SAD, high socially anxious students and nonanxious students were compared. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were evaluated. RESULTS:Participants did not differ on first-fixation variables. However, overall, socially anxious students and participants with SAD dwelled significantly longer on threat faces compared with nonanxious participants, with no difference between the anxious groups. Groups did not differ in overall dwell time on neutral faces. Internal consistency of total dwell time on threat and neutral AOIs was high and one-week test-retest reliability was acceptable. LIMITATIONS: Only disgusted facial expressions were used. Relative small sample size. CONCLUSION:Social anxiety is associated with increased dwell time on socially threatening stimuli, presenting a potential target for therapeutic intervention.
Authors: Amit Lazarov; Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez; Amanda Tamman; Louise Falzon; Xi Zhu; Donald E Edmondson; Yuval Neria Journal: Psychol Med Date: 2018-09-04 Impact factor: 7.723
Authors: Rany Abend; Leone de Voogd; Elske Salemink; Reinout W Wiers; Koraly Pérez-Edgar; Amanda Fitzgerald; Lauren K White; Giovanni A Salum; Jie He; Wendy K Silverman; Jeremy W Pettit; Daniel S Pine; Yair Bar-Haim Journal: Depress Anxiety Date: 2017-12-06 Impact factor: 6.505