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The effect of attention training on emotional vulnerability and food consumption following a stressor
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Title
The effect of attention training on emotional vulnerability and food consumption following a stressor
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Schlam
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Tanya Rachelle
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Tanya Rachelle Schlam
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author
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Wilson
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G.
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Advisory Committee
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G. Terence Wilson
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chair
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Karlin
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Robert
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Advisory Committee
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Robert A. Karlin
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internal member
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Mohlman
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Jan
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Advisory Committee
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Jan Mohlman
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Loeb
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Katharine
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Advisory Committee
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Katharine L. Loeb
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Rutgers University
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Graduate School - New Brunswick
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theses
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2008
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2008-01
Language
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English
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electronic
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Extent
ix, 130 pages
Abstract
Individuals with anxiety typically display an attentional bias toward threat that may contribute causally to the development and maintenance of anxiety. C. MacLeod, E. Rutherford, L. Campbell, G. Ebsworthy, and L. Holker (2002) showed that manipulating attentional bias toward and away from threat can modify emotional vulnerability. This experiment attempted to replicate and extend this finding to undergraduates (N = 67) reporting average anxiety, but above-average emotional overeating tendencies. An objective outcome was added (calories consumed during a "taste test".
Participants were double-blindly assigned to an "attend-neutral" attention training condition of the dot probe task (in which the probes replaced neutral words to train a bias toward neutral words) or an "attend-negative" condition (in which the probes replaced negative words). It was hypothesized that the attend-neutral group would report less negative affect following a stressor and consume fewer calories than the attend-negative group.
Reaction times to each of the two types of trials (where probes replaced neutral or negative words) showed high internal consistency. However, Cronbach's alpha for attentional bias scores (the difference between reaction times to detect probes replacing neutral words and probes replacing negative words) was low pre- and posttraining (.50 and .33).
Perhaps related to the dot probe task's low reliability, the attend-neutral group's bias score did not change. The attend-negative group, however, developed the predicted bias toward negative words. Contrary to predictions, both groups reported equivalent negative affect increases following the stressor and consumed equivalent calories during the "taste test." In exploratory analyses of the top one-third of the sample on trait anxiety, the attend-negative group showed a trend toward the predicted greater increase in negative affect following the stressor compared with the attend-neutral group, r = .39 (a medium effect size). The two groups, however, consumed equivalent calories. A clinically or subclinically anxious sample that displays a bias toward threat seems to increase the likelihood of training a bias away from threat. At 1-month follow-up, unexpectedly, the attend-negative group reported decreased general distress compared to the attend-neutral group, who reported an increase, possibly suggesting that training toward threat could function as exposure and decrease anxiety.
Participants were double-blindly assigned to an "attend-neutral" attention training condition of the dot probe task (in which the probes replaced neutral words to train a bias toward neutral words) or an "attend-negative" condition (in which the probes replaced negative words). It was hypothesized that the attend-neutral group would report less negative affect following a stressor and consume fewer calories than the attend-negative group.
Reaction times to each of the two types of trials (where probes replaced neutral or negative words) showed high internal consistency. However, Cronbach's alpha for attentional bias scores (the difference between reaction times to detect probes replacing neutral words and probes replacing negative words) was low pre- and posttraining (.50 and .33).
Perhaps related to the dot probe task's low reliability, the attend-neutral group's bias score did not change. The attend-negative group, however, developed the predicted bias toward negative words. Contrary to predictions, both groups reported equivalent negative affect increases following the stressor and consumed equivalent calories during the "taste test." In exploratory analyses of the top one-third of the sample on trait anxiety, the attend-negative group showed a trend toward the predicted greater increase in negative affect following the stressor compared with the attend-neutral group, r = .39 (a medium effect size). The two groups, however, consumed equivalent calories. A clinically or subclinically anxious sample that displays a bias toward threat seems to increase the likelihood of training a bias away from threat. At 1-month follow-up, unexpectedly, the attend-negative group reported decreased general distress compared to the attend-neutral group, who reported an increase, possibly suggesting that training toward threat could function as exposure and decrease anxiety.
Note
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Ph.D.
Note
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Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-128).
Subject
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Topic
Psychology
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Topic
Stress (Psychology)
Subject
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Topic
Attention
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Topic
Operant conditioning
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Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore19991600001
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http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.17219
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ETD_679
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doi:10.7282/T3K64JFD
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ETD doctoral
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
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Copyright protected
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Open
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Tanya Schlam
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Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
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Non-exclusive ETD license
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Author Agreement License
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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