Birk Jeffrey L, Opitz Philipp C, Urry Heather L
Department of Psychology,Tufts University, United States; Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, United States.
Department of Psychology,Tufts University, United States; School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, United States.
Biol Psychol. 2017 Jan;122:59-68. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.12.002. Epub 2015 Dec 19.
Low attentional control (AC) and high anxiety are closely linked. Researchers often presume that high anxiety reduces AC; however, the reverse causal possibility - that low AC increases anxiety - is equally plausible. We addressed this question in people with elevated trait anxiety by evaluating the temporal precedence of the AC-anxiety association. We tested whether autonomic arousal (electrodermal activity) and subjective anxiety elicited by an anxiety induction were associated more strongly with AC measured either pre-induction (N=40) or post-induction (N=38). Low AC was indexed by distractibility during a visual search task requiring attentional inhibition of emotionally neutral distractors. Higher distractibility predicted higher autonomic activation but not higher increases in self-reported anxiety. Critically, this AC-anxiety association occurred for pre-induction but not post-induction AC. The results suggest that low AC may heighten subsequent anxious arousal. By implication, treatment interventions should specifically enhance AC to alleviate anxiety.
低注意力控制（AC）与高焦虑密切相关。研究人员通常假定高焦虑会降低注意力控制；然而，相反的因果关系——低注意力控制会增加焦虑——同样合理。我们通过评估AC与焦虑关联的时间先后顺序，来解决特质焦虑水平较高人群中的这一问题。我们测试了焦虑诱导引发的自主唤醒（皮肤电活动）和主观焦虑，与诱导前（N = 40）或诱导后（N = 38）测量的AC之间的关联是否更强。在一项需要对情绪中性干扰物进行注意力抑制的视觉搜索任务中，低AC通过分心程度来衡量。更高的分心程度预示着更高的自主激活，但自我报告的焦虑增加幅度并不更高。关键的是，这种AC与焦虑的关联在诱导前的AC中出现，而在诱导后的AC中未出现。结果表明，低AC可能会加剧随后的焦虑唤醒。这意味着，治疗干预应特别增强注意力控制以减轻焦虑。
