title: Emotional Stroop interference in trauma-exposed individuals: a contrast between two accounts.
abstract: In the Emotional Stroop task, trauma-exposed victims are slowed when naming the colour print of trauma-related words, showing the presence of interference. This interference has been assumed to reflect emotional reactions triggered by experience-relevant emotional content which interfere with the task. However, it may equally reflect the activation of task-competing thoughts triggered by experience-relevant semantic content, thus resulting from cognitive- rather than emotion-driven processes. This study contrasted these possibilities by measuring the relationship between Emotional Stroop interference, on the one hand, and severity of sexual-abuse experience, subjective ratings of emotionality, and working-memory measures, on the other. Whereas there was no relationship between working-memory measures and interference, providing no support for the cognitive-based account, experience severity, emotionality ratings and abuse-related interference were all positively related, providing support for the emotion-based account. These findings support the idea that the Emotional Stroop task can be used as a diagnostic tool for emotion-filtering impairment.
authors: Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 Boul. des Forges, CP 500, Trois-Rivières, G9A 5H7 Québec, Canada. Electronic address: serge.caparos@uqtr.ca.
authors: Serge
authors: S
authors: Caparos
authors: Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 Boul. des Forges, CP 500, Trois-Rivières, G9A 5H7 Québec, Canada. Electronic address: isabelle.blanchette@uqtr.ca.
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Blanchette
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011930:Reaction Time; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology*; D057190:Stroop Test; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention; Cognition; Emotion; Emotional Stroop; Interference; Trauma