Lane Ben R, Mulgrew Kate E, Mahar Doug, White Melanie J, Loughnan Siobhan A
School of Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Locked Bag 4, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia.
School of Psychology and Counselling, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 170 Victoria Park Rd, Kelvin Grove, QLD, 4059, Australia.
Int J Eat Disord. 2017 Jul;50(7):817-825. doi: 10.1002/eat.22699. Epub 2017 Mar 2.
The dot-probe task (DPT) is a reaction time measure of attentional bias. Research using this task has found inconsistent patterns of appearance-related attentional biases in women. This study examined the effects of a novel priming variation of the DPT, which incorporated additional cues into each trial of the task, on measurement of such biases. The study also examined associations between these biases and body image, a component of eating disorder symptomatology. A convenience sample of women from the general community (N = 103) completed body image measures online and attended a laboratory session to complete one of four DPTs: (1) an appearance-cued DPT containing images of thin-ideal models between each trial; (2) neutral-cued DPT containing images of forests; (3) time-delayed DPT controlling for time in place of an image; or (4) typical DPT containing only word stimuli. Women who completed the appearance-cued DPT demonstrated a stronger attentional bias for positive, but not negative, appearance words than women who completed the other DPT versions. Furthermore, for the appearance-cued and time-delayed DPTs, this bias correlated with poorer body image across several indicators (appearance evaluation, body dissatisfaction, self-evaluative salience of appearance, and state body satisfaction). Although it was unexpected that no attentional bias for negative-appearance words was found, the attentional bias for positive-appearance words may suggest that effects were driven by the ego-threat of positive-appearance words. Further research is warranted to determine whether such biases contribute to and maintain body image disturbance and disordered eating.
点探测任务（DPT）是一种用于测量注意偏向的反应时任务。使用该任务进行的研究发现，女性中与外貌相关的注意偏向模式并不一致。本研究考察了DPT的一种新颖的启动变化形式（即在任务的每个试验中加入额外线索）对这类偏向测量的影响。该研究还考察了这些偏向与身体意象（进食障碍症状学的一个组成部分）之间的关联。从普通社区招募的103名女性组成的便利样本在线完成了身体意象测量，并参加了一次实验室实验，完成四项DPT任务中的一项：（1）外貌线索DPT，每次试验之间包含瘦理想体型模特的图片；（2）中性线索DPT，包含森林的图片；（3）时间延迟DPT，用时间代替图片进行控制；或（4）典型DPT，仅包含单词刺激。与完成其他DPT版本的女性相比，完成外貌线索DPT的女性对积极的外貌词汇（而非消极的外貌词汇）表现出更强的注意偏向。此外，对于外貌线索DPT和时间延迟DPT，这种偏向在几个指标（外貌评价、身体不满意、外貌的自我评价显著性和状态身体满意度）上与较差的身体意象相关。尽管未发现对消极外貌词汇的注意偏向出乎意料，但对积极外貌词汇的注意偏向可能表明，这些效应是由积极外貌词汇的自我威胁驱动的。有必要进行进一步研究，以确定这种偏向是否会导致并维持身体意象障碍和饮食失调。
