Attention allocation during the processing of socially relevant information: Moderators of attentional biases and relevance for the experience of social anxiety

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A biased attention allocation towards threat stimuli is considered relevant in both the etiology and maintenance of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Recently, researchers addressed this processing bias by experimental procedures developed to train attention away from threat. The first studies examining the effects of attention modification trainings on SAD symptoms yielded impressive results; however, these findings were not consistently replicated in further studies. Experimental findings suggest that the attentional bias in SAD may comprise different components, and it might be moderated by context conditions (such as state anxiety, task demands) and interindividual differences (e.g. in self-regulation skills). For a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying attention modification procedures it is necessary to further describe the circumstances under which an attentional bias can be observed, as well as the actual relationship between attentional processes and the SAD symptomatology. The presented research project is aimed on examining conditions that moderate the prevalence of attentional biases for threat in SAD. Task demands, state anxiety, and interindividual differences in self-regulation are considered as moderating variables. It is assumed that individuals with SAD consistently show a hypervigilance for threat in early processing stages that is succeeded by a more individual attention allocation that depends on moderating variables. It is further assumed that different bias components are differentially associated to SAD symptoms, and that these associations are mediated by additional biases in information processing (interpretation bias). Individuals with SAD and healthy controls will be examined in two consecutive studies. In both studies, attention towards social threat stimuli will be assessed by a combination of visual search and eyetracking. In study 1, the effects of experimentally induced state anxiety on attention allocation during different tasks will be assessed. In study 2, attention assessment is complemented both by the assessment of further cognitive biases, and a standardized behavioural test. These data will help to evaluate the relationship between biased information processing and SAD symptoms. In both studies individual differences in attention control are considered as covariate. Findings will contribute to re-fine attention modification trainings, and will allow to predict who might profit from such interventions. Findings will also enhance our understanding of psychopathological processes underlying SAD. The combination of direct gaze assessment and indirect visual search procedures enables an evaluation of the validity of traditional experimental tasks in attention assessment.