Attentional reactions to an MI: the impact of mood state, worry, and coping style.
This study investigated the possible development of an attentional bias to cardiac-related words in subjects who recently experienced a myocardial infarction (MI). It was hypothesized that cardiac-related stimuli would have attention-capturing characteristics for post-MI subjects, and this bias would be moderated by level of anxiety, degree of cardiac-related worry, and the subject's coping style. Post-MI subjects (n = 33) and matched controls (n = 31) participated in an attentional search task. The post-MI subjects failed to show the predicted group increases in attention allocated to cardiac stimuli, but a difference between groups still occurred as the control group exhibited directed inattention to cardiac stimuli. Subsequent analysis indicated those post-MI subjects who did evince an attentional bias toward cardiac stimuli had higher monitoring scores on a self-report measure of coping style. Level of emotional distress and cardiac-related worry failed to predict attentional bias for the post-MI subjects.
New Orleans Veterans Affairs Medical Center, LA 70112-1262, USA. constans.joseph_i@new-orleans.med.va.gov
J I
JI
Constans
A
A
Mathews
P J
PJ
Brantley
T
T
James
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety; D001288:Attention; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D014936:Word Association Tests