title: Attention training normalises combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder effects on emotional Stroop performance using lexically matched word lists.
abstract: We examined two groups of combat veterans, one with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (n = 27) and another without PTSD (n = 16), using an emotional Stroop task (EST) with word lists matched across a series of lexical variables (e.g. length, frequency, neighbourhood size, etc.). Participants with PTSD exhibited a strong EST effect (longer colour-naming latencies for combat-relevant words as compared to neutral words). Veterans without PTSD produced no such effect, t < .918, p > .37. Participants with PTSD then completed eight sessions of attention training (Attention Control Training or Attention Bias Modification Training) with a dot-probe task utilising threatening and neutral faces. After training, participants-especially those undergoing Attention Control Training-no longer produced longer colour-naming latencies for combat-related words as compared to other words, indicating normalised attention allocation processes after treatment.
authors: a Department of Psychology , Creighton University , Omaha , NE , USA.
authors: Maya M
authors: MM
authors: Khanna
authors: a Department of Psychology , Creighton University , Omaha , NE , USA.
authors: Amy S
authors: AS
authors: Badura-Brack
authors: a Department of Psychology , Creighton University , Omaha , NE , USA.
authors: Timothy J
authors: TJ
authors: McDermott
authors: a Department of Psychology , Creighton University , Omaha , NE , USA.
authors: Alex
authors: A
authors: Shepherd
authors: b Department of Psychology , University of Nebraska-Omaha , Omaha , NE , USA.
authors: Elizabeth
authors: E
authors: Heinrichs-Graham
authors: c National Institute of Mental Health , Rockville , MD , USA.
authors: Daniel S
authors: DS
authors: Pine
authors: d Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, School of Psychological Sciences , Tel-Aviv University , Tel Aviv-Yafo , Isreal.
authors: Yair
authors: Y
authors: Bar-Haim
authors: e Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, Department of Neurological Sciences, and the Center for Magnetoencephalography , University of Nebraska Medical Center , Omaha , NE , USA.
authors: Tony W
authors: TW
authors: Wilson
keywords: PTSD; attention bias modification; attention training; emotional Stroop; lexically matched lists