Attentional biases have been observed in populations with psychological disorders, but have been under-investigated in populations with physical illnesses. This study investigated potential attentional biases in asthma as a function of mood. Asthma (N = 45), and healthy (N = 39) participants were randomly allocated to a depressed or a neutral mood state induction. They completed a visual probe task that measured participants' reaction times to health-threat and neutral pictures and words. Compared to the healthy controls, the asthma group showed attentional bias towards health-threat pictures in depressed mood, and avoidance of health-threat pictures in neutral mood. Attentional biases were found in a group with a physical illness as a function of induced mood. It is suggested that attentional processes in people with physical illness may be important in relation to symptom perception and illness management.
Journal article
2018-08-01T00:00:00+00:00
41
550 - 567
17
Asthma, Attention, Avoidance, Cognitive processes, Depression, Health, Adult, Affect, Asthma, Attentional Bias, Avoidance Learning, Case-Control Studies, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Visual Perception, Young Adult