Performance in a blocked versus randomized emotional Stroop task in an aged, early traumatized group with and without posttraumatic stress symptoms.
Attentional biases (AB) for trauma-related stimuli have been examined in many studies assessing different trauma samples. In emotional Stroop tasks (EST), blocked and single-trial formats are used almost interchangeably in clinical research. There is reason to believe that different designs yield different results and assess different processes, which, however, has been hardly examined in studies. Furthermore, there is a dearth of information about AB in older trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress symptoms.



Older adults with (n = 20) and without PTSD symptoms (n = 26) as well as non-traumatized controls (n = 21) completed an EST, in which words were presented both blocked and randomized.



Analyses revealed that individuals with PTSD symptoms showed AB for trauma- and depression-related words; however, mode of administration did not significantly influence reaction times.



The emotional Stroop task cannot disentangle the underlying cognitive mechanism (i.e., facilitation, interference, avoidance).



PTSD symptoms in older trauma survivors are associated with AB. Overall, participants with PTSD symptoms did not show greater impairment of cognitive control in comparison to both control groups. Results also illustrate that methodological differences between task versions need to be considered more thoroughly.
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotheray, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: c.wittekind@uke.uni-hamburg.de.
Charlotte E
CE
Wittekind
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotheray, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany; University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and Schoen Klinik Hamburg-Eilbek, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Christoph
C
Muhtz
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotheray, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Steffen
S
Moritz
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotheray, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Lena
L
Jelinek
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D057190:Stroop Test
Attentional biases; Block; Interference; PTSD; Random; Stroop