Vigilance/Avoidance to Expected and Presented Stimuli in Trauma Survivors: An Eye-Tracking Study

Attention in trauma-related disorders has been characterized by both vigilance and avoidance of trauma-related or aversive stimuli. This study used eye-tracking technology to investigate how cumulative trauma, as well as hypervigilance and dissociative symptoms, affected attentional patterns to anticipated negative stimuli and actual negative stimuli. A sample of forty-two trauma participants recruited from the community had a choice about where to look on a computer screen knowing which segments of the screen negative stimuli were likely to appear. Participants could look at those stimuli for as long as they chose before pushing a button to move onto the next trial. A measure of hypervigilance predicted looking to quadrants in which a negative stimulus was to appear. Cumulative trauma predicted avoidance of those stimuli. Neither cumulative trauma or symptom profiles predicted how long participants looked at the negative pictures once they were presented. These data suggest that hypervigilance is associated with looking for threats that are not yet present, and that cumulative trauma may be associated with motivation to avoid negative stimuli. The findings are discussed with respect to the characteristics of the sample and the limited dissociative pathology.