Patients with generalized social phobia direct their attention away from faces

The experiment tested whether patients with social phobia direct their attention to or away from faces with a range of emotional expressions. A modified dot probe paradigm (J. Abnorm. Psychol. 95 (1986) 15) measured whether participants attended more to faces or to household objects. Twenty patients...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behaviour research and therapy 2002-06, Vol.40 (6), p.677-687
Main Authors: Chen, Y.P, Ehlers, A, Clark, D.M, Mansell, W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Attention
Biological and medical sciences
Dot probe paradigm
Experiments
Face
Facial expressions
Fear & phobias
Female
Fixation, Ocular
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Phobia
Phobic Disorders - diagnosis
Phobic Disorders - psychology
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Severity of Illness Index
Social phobia
Socialization
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Summary:The experiment tested whether patients with social phobia direct their attention to or away from faces with a range of emotional expressions. A modified dot probe paradigm (J. Abnorm. Psychol. 95 (1986) 15) measured whether participants attended more to faces or to household objects. Twenty patients with social phobia were faster in identifying the probe when it occurred in the location of the household objects, regardless of whether the facial expressions were positive, neutral, or negative. In contrast, controls did not exhibit an attentional preference. The results are in line with recent theories of social phobia that emphasize the role of reduced processing of external social cues in maintaining social anxiety.
ISSN:0005-7967
1873-622X
DOI:10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00086-9