Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK.
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, New Radcliffe House, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, 49 Walton Street, OX2 6AE, Oxford, UK.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2019 Jun;63:28-35. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.12.007. Epub 2018 Dec 24.
It has been suggested that impaired attentional control (AC) promotes the use of maladaptive emotional regulation strategies, such as rumination, with subsequent increase in risk of depression.
This study examined this hypothesis in a healthy community sample. Questionnaire measures of depression, anxiety, rumination and self-reported AC (shifting and focusing) were used, as well as an attention performance task (Attention Network Task; ANT).
While self-report and performance measures of AC were not significantly related, both depression and rumination were associated with reduced self-reported AC. Depression was specifically associated with poorer attentional shifting. Depression and brooding were also associated with better performance on the conflict component of the ANT. Importantly, the relationships of ANT conflict and self-reported AC to depression were mediated by brooding.
The current study used a community sample, and it is unclear if results would generalise to a clinical population. All measures were taken concurrently and so it is not possible to confidently ascertain causality or direction of effects.
These results are consistent with the suggestion that impaired AC, particularly a narrow and inflexible attentional focus, may increase risk of depression by promoting ruminative thinking. The results highlight the importance of considering both self-report and performance measures of AC, as well as different components of attentional performance.
有研究表明，注意力控制受损会促使人们采用不良的情绪调节策略，如反刍思维，从而增加抑郁的风险。
本研究在健康的社区样本中检验了这一假设。采用抑郁、焦虑、反刍和自我报告的注意力控制（转移和集中）问卷测量，以及注意绩效任务（注意网络任务；ANT）。
虽然自我报告和注意力控制的表现测量之间没有显著的相关性，但抑郁和反刍都与自我报告的注意力控制降低有关。抑郁与注意力转移能力下降有关。沉思也与 ANT 冲突成分的表现更好有关。重要的是，ANT 冲突和自我报告的注意力控制与抑郁的关系是由沉思介导的。
本研究采用了社区样本，尚不清楚结果是否适用于临床人群。所有的测量都是同时进行的，因此不能确定因果关系或影响的方向。
这些结果与注意力控制受损，特别是注意力狭窄和僵化，可能通过促进反刍思维而增加抑郁风险的观点一致。结果强调了考虑注意力控制的自我报告和表现测量以及注意力表现的不同成分的重要性。
