title: Depression-related difficulties disengaging from negative faces are associated with sustained attention to negative feedback during social evaluation and predict stress recovery.
abstract: The present study aimed to clarify: 1) the presence of depression-related attention bias related to a social stressor, 2) its association with depression-related attention biases as measured under standard conditions, and 3) their association with impaired stress recovery in depression. A sample of 39 participants reporting a broad range of depression levels completed a standard eye-tracking paradigm in which they had to engage/disengage their gaze with/from emotional faces. Participants then underwent a stress induction (i.e., giving a speech), in which their eye movements to false emotional feedback were measured, and stress reactivity and recovery were assessed. Depression level was associated with longer times to engage/disengage attention with/from negative faces under standard conditions and with sustained attention to negative feedback during the speech. These depression-related biases were associated and mediated the association between depression level and self-reported stress recovery, predicting lower recovery from stress after giving the speech.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2815-7803
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Rudi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Raedt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005149:Facial Expression; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult