Chronic Academic Stress Differentially Modulates Value-Driven Attentional Capture

This study investigates how chronic academic stress modulates value-driven attentional capture. The stress group (students preparing for the National Postgraduate Entrance Examination, NPEE) and the control group completed a training-test task. During training, colours (red/green) were associated with monetary rewards (high/low) when serving as targets. In the test phase, these value-associated colours served as distractors during visual search. Task performance and distractor-induced attentional capture effects were measured. Results indicated that: (1) the stress group showed elevated perceived stress, state anxiety, and negative affect, along with an attenuated cortisol awakening response (CAR), confirming successful chronic stress induction; (2) during training, the stress group responded faster to value-associated targets than controls, indicating either stress-enhanced attentional prioritisation of valued stimuli or elevated general vigilance; (3) in the test phase, the stress group showed greater attentional capture than controls specifically for high-value (but not low-value) distractors. Furthermore, this effect correlated with both blunted CAR and heightened anxiety in stressed individuals. These findings suggest that chronic academic stress differentially modulates attentional processing: it facilitates the selection of valued targets through increased reward salience, while compromising inhibitory control over high-value distractors, thereby amplifying their attentional capture.