title: Attention to threat images in individuals with clinical and subthreshold symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
abstract: Attention to general and trauma-relevant threat was examined in individuals with clinical and subthreshold symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants' eye gaze was tracked and recorded while they viewed sets of four images over a 6-s presentation (one negative, positive, and neutral image, and either a general threat image or a trauma-relevant threat image). Two trauma-exposed groups (a clinical and a subthreshold PTSD symptom group) were compared to a non-trauma-exposed group. Both the clinical and subthreshold PTSD symptom groups attended to trauma-relevant threat images more than the no-trauma-exposure group, whereas there were no group differences for general threat images. A time course analysis of attention to trauma-relevant threat images revealed different attentional profiles for the trauma-exposed groups. Participants with clinical PTSD symptoms exhibited immediate heightened attention to the images relative to participants with no-trauma-exposure, whereas participants with subthreshold PTSD symptoms did not. In addition, participants with subthreshold PTSD symptoms attended to trauma-relevant threat images throughout the 6-s presentation, whereas participants with clinical symptoms of PTSD exhibited evidence of avoidance. The theoretical and clinical implications of these distinct attentional profiles are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4.
authors.forename: Charmaine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Lauren D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Goegan
authors.forename: Kristin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Jody E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Arndt
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Sears
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention; Attentional bias; Eye tracking; PTSD; Subthreshold PTSD; Time course