Attention bias toward threatening faces in women with PTSD: eye tracking correlates by symptom cluster

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Abstract
Maladaptive patterns of attention to emotional stimuli are a common feature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with growing evidence supporting sustained attention to threatening stimuli across trauma samples. However, it remains unclear how different PTSD symptom clusters are associated with attentional bias patterns, particularly in urban civilian settings with high rates of trauma exposure and PTSD. The present study examined associations among these variables in 70 traumatized primarily African American women. PTSD was measured using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, and eye tracking was used to measure patterns of attention as participants engaged in an attention bias (dot probe) task to emotional faces; average initial fixation (1 s) and dwell duration (overall time spent looking at emotional face versus neutral face across the 5 s task) were used to assess attention bias patterns toward emotional faces. Women with PTSD showed significantly longer dwell duration toward angry faces than women without PTSD (F = 5.16, p < .05). Bivariate correlation analyses with the PTSD symptom clusters showed a significant association between average initial fixation toward angry faces and higher levels of avoidance symptoms (r = 0.29, p < .05) as well as sustained attention to angry faces and higher levels of re-experiencing symptoms (r = 0.24, p < .05). Using separate linear regression models based on initial significant correlations, we found that PTSD avoidance symptoms were significantly related to average initial fixation toward angry faces (R2∆ = 0.09, p < .05) and PTSD re-experiencing symptoms were significantly related to dwell duration toward angry faces (R2∆ = 0.06, p < .05). These findings contribute to evidence that PTSD is related to both initial vigilance and sustained attention to threat and that certain symptom clusters may either drive or be more impacted by attentional biases, highlighting the benefits of addressing attentional biases within treatment. •Biased attention patterns are related to PTSD symptoms in a civilian urban population of women.• PTSD diagnosis is associated with sustained attention toward threat.• Avoidance symptoms are related to initial biased attention toward angry faces, while re-experiencing symptoms are related to sustained attention toward angry faces.
Funding Information
  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD071982)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH071537)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH101380)
  • NIH National Centers for Research Resources (M01 RR00039)

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