Wilcockson T D W, Sanal N E M
Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4YW, UK.
Psychology Department, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK.
Addict Behav Rep. 2016 Mar 2;3:38-42. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2016.02.004. eCollection 2016 Jun.
Cannabis is now the most widely used illicit substance in the world. Previous research demonstrates that cannabis use is associated with dysfunctional affect regulation and anxiety. Anxiety is characterised by attentional biases in the presence of emotional information. This novel study therefore examined the attentional bias of cannabis users when presented with anxiety-related stimuli. The aim was to establish whether cannabis users respond to anxiety-related stimuli differently to control participants.
A dot-probe paradigm was utilised using undergraduate students. Trials contained anxiety-related stimuli and neutral control stimuli. Eye-tracking was used to measure attention for the stimuli.
Results indicated that cannabis users demonstrated attentional-avoidance behaviour when presented with anxiety-related stimuli.
The findings suggest a difference in processing of emotional information in relation to neutral information between groups. It would appear that cannabis users avoid anxiety provoking stimuli. Such behaviour could potentially have motivational properties that could lead to exacerbating anxiety disorder-type behaviour.
大麻如今是世界上使用最广泛的非法物质。先前的研究表明，使用大麻与情感调节功能失调和焦虑有关。焦虑的特征是在存在情绪信息时出现注意力偏差。因此，这项新研究考察了大麻使用者在面对与焦虑相关的刺激时的注意力偏差。目的是确定大麻使用者对与焦虑相关的刺激的反应是否与对照组参与者不同。
采用点探测范式，以本科生为研究对象。试验包含与焦虑相关的刺激和中性对照刺激。使用眼动追踪技术来测量对这些刺激的注意力。
结果表明，大麻使用者在面对与焦虑相关的刺激时表现出注意力回避行为。
研究结果表明，两组在处理与中性信息相关的情绪信息方面存在差异。看起来大麻使用者会回避引发焦虑的刺激。这种行为可能具有潜在的动机属性，可能导致焦虑症类型行为的加剧。
