Attentional bias to situational and implicational information and individual differences in anxiety reactivity and...

There are notable individual differences in how people manage the lead up to, and aftermath of, stressful events. Trait anxiety has consistently been identified as a key factor contributing to these differences. There is growing consensus that trait anxiety is multidimensional, comprising two distinct dimensions, anxiety reactivity and anxiety perseveration. Yet the cognitive mechanisms driving individual differences in these dimensions remain unclear. The present study investigated the potential role of attentional bias towards information differing in content (situational vs. implicational) and valence (negative vs. positive) in driving these individual differences. Undergraduate university students (N = 93) completed a dual-probe assessment task which presented video clips varying in content and valence. State anxiety was assessed at crucial junctures throughout the experimental session to index anxiety reactivity and perseveration. Results revealed attentional bias for negative implicational information played a significant role in predicting anxiety perseveration. Conversely, attention bias for negative situational information was not a significant predictor of anxiety reactivity. Findings are discussed with reference to limitations and future extensions that could build on these findings to address causality and develop interventions capable of modifying cognitive biases.