The relationship between attentional bias and posttraumatic stress symptoms among bereaved parents: a three-year...

Background: Attentional biases are often considered key mechanisms in the onset and maintenance of various emotional disorders. However, existing research has reported inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between attentional bias and posttraumatic stress symptoms.Objective: This study aimed to examine the predictive effects of attentional bias on posttraumatic stress symptoms among bereaved Chinese parents who have lost their only children, using a three-year longitudinal analysis with linear mixed models.Method: Attentional bias and posttraumatic stress symptoms of bereaved parents (N = 47, aged 52-72 years) were assessed annually over three consecutive years using a dot-probe task and the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).Results: We found that vigilance toward positive stimuli was a negative predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms, whereas vigilance toward negative stimuli positively predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms. Additionally, difficulty disengaging from both positive and negative stimuli was positively associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms. These associations were particularly evident regarding intrusions and alterations in arousal and reactivity at specific stimulus presentation durations.Conclusions: These findings strengthen our understanding of the relationship between attentional bias and posttraumatic stress symptoms through a longitudinal study design and analytic approach that accounts for random individual and time-related effects. Specific attentional bias components at particular stimulus presentation durations predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms, especially intrusions and alterations in arousal and reactivity.