Trait mindfulness and attention to emotional information: An eye tracking study.

Biased attention for emotional information is associated with the emotional disorders. Trait mindfulness is associated with lower depression and anxiety and with improved attentional control. Mindfulness is also related to lower levels of brooding rumination. The current study examined the association between trait mindfulness, brooding rumination, depressed and anxious state moods, and attention to emotional visual stimuli utilizing eye tracking methodology. Participants were 158 undergraduates. Trait mindfulness was negatively associated with attention to sad and threatening stimuli, but was not associated with attention to positive or neutral stimuli. There was an indirect effect of mindfulness on attention to sad stimuli through brooding rumination. Data are cross sectional but provide initial evidence that mindfulness may partially exert its effects on depression and anxiety by lessening attention to negatively-valenced stimuli.

Rejection sensitivity, interpersonal rejection, and attention for emotional facial expressions.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Rejection sensitivity (RS), attention for depression-relevant stimuli, and interpersonal rejection are established risk factors for depression. RS has previously been associated with increased attention for socially threatening faces, but has not been examined in the context of specifically depression-relevant stimuli. The current study examined whether RS influences attention for emotional facial expressions in the context of social rejection or inclusion. METHODS: Participants (n = 180) completed a self-report measure of RS and a free viewing eye tracking task before and after an experimental task (Cyberball) in which participants were randomized to be included or rejected. RESULTS: Hierarchical linear regressions predicting change in attention to emotional faces revealed significant effects only for sad faces. Higher RS was associated with increased attention for sad faces from pre- to post-Cyberball. Cyberball condition moderated the effect with participants in the rejection condition demonstrating increased attention for sad faces, but with no significant relationship in the inclusion condition. LIMITATIONS: Our sample had relatively low levels of RS and depression. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with interpersonal and cognitive models of depression, we found that RS was associated with increased attention for sad faces when participants were interpersonally rejected. Results provide preliminary evidence that rejection sensitivity may contribute to depression vulnerability via increased attention to depression-relevant information in the context of interpersonal rejection. Further research including clinically depressed participants and using longitudinal approaches are necessary to confirm this potential relationship.

Sex differences in attention to disgust facial expressions.

Research demonstrates that women experience disgust more readily and with more intensity than men. The experience of disgust is associated with increased attention to disgust-related stimuli, but no prior study has examined sex differences in attention to disgust facial expressions. We hypothesised that women, compared to men, would demonstrate increased attention to disgust facial expressions. Participants (n = 172) completed an eye tracking task to measure visual attention to emotional facial expressions. Results indicated that women spent more time attending to disgust facial expressions compared to men. Unexpectedly, we found that men spent significantly more time attending to neutral faces compared to women. The findings indicate that women's increased experience of emotional disgust also extends to attention to disgust facial stimuli. These findings may help to explain sex differences in the experience of disgust and in diagnoses of anxiety disorders in which disgust plays an important role.