title: Attentional bias modification facilitates attentional control mechanisms: evidence from eye tracking.
abstract: Social anxiety is thought to be maintained by biased attentional processing towards threatening information. Research has further shown that the experimental attenuation of this bias, through the implementation of attentional bias modification (ABM), may serve to reduce social anxiety vulnerability. However, the mechanisms underlying ABM remain unclear. The present study examined whether inhibitory attentional control was associated with ABM. A non-clinical sample of participants was randomly assigned to receive either ABM or a placebo task. To assess pre-post changes in attentional control, participants were additionally administered an emotional antisaccade task. ABM participants exhibited a subsequent shift in attentional bias away from threat as expected. ABM participants further showed a subsequent decrease in antisaccade cost, indicating a general facilitation of inhibitory attentional control. Mediational analysis revealed that the shift in attentional bias following ABM was independent to the change in attentional control. The findings suggest that the mechanisms of ABM are multifaceted.
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney, 100 Mallett Street, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia; Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Electronic address: nigel.chen@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Nigel T M
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Patrick J F
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences and Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
authors.forename: Tamara L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; School of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Strada Mihail Kogãlniceanu 1,Cluj-Napoca 400084, Romania.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: MacLeod
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney, 100 Mallett Street, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia.
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Guastella
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Antisaccade; Attentional bias modification; Attentional control; Eye movement; Social anxiety