Negative Affectivity Moderates the Relationship between Attentional Control and Focused Skin Picking.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Limited understanding of cognitive functioning in body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs).
• Existing research on BFRBs presents mixed findings regarding cognitive aspects.
• Need for investigation into the interplay of cognitive control, emotional states, and specific BFRBs like skin picking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between attentional control and focused skin picking.
• To investigate the moderating role of negative affectivity in this relationship.
• To explore how cognitive abilities interact with emotional states in the context of focused skin picking.

Main Methods:

• Study involved 273 non-clinical participants (79% female, aged 18-54).
• Utilized questionnaires to assess attentional control, negative affectivity, and focused skin picking.
• Employed moderation analysis, simple slope analysis, and the Johnson-Neyman technique.

Main Results:

• At low negative affectivity, attentional control negatively correlated with focused skin picking.
• This negative relationship diminished at higher levels of negative affectivity.
• At very high negative affectivity, attentional control positively correlated with focused skin picking.

Conclusions:

• The association between attentional control and focused skin picking is complex and moderated by negative affectivity.
• Cognitive abilities' impact on skin picking may depend on individual usage and processing stage.
• Further research with behavioral attention measures is recommended to clarify these cognitive-behavioral links.