Category: Translational
Mary McNamara, M.A.
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
Jutta Joormann, Ph.D.
Yale University
Guilford, Connecticut
Brandon Gibb, Ph.D.
Binghamton University
Binghamton, New York
Brady Nelson, Ph.D.
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York
Mary McNamara, M.A.
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
Christopher Beevers, Ph.D.
Full Professor
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
Attentional biases have been implicated in a range of psychopathology (Harvey, Watkins, & Mansell, 2004), particularly mood and anxiety disorders. Moreover, attention bias for emotional stimuli is thought to confer vulnerability to the development of psychopathology (Joorman, Talbot, and Gotlib, 2007; Armstrong, and Olatunji, 2012), making it an attractive target for study and intervention. In this symposium, we will describe findings of the relationship between attention bias and psychopathology in samples of infants, adolescents, emerging adults, and adults. Additionally, this symposium will highlight a diverse set of methods for measuring attention bias (e.g. behavioral, physiological, and neural). We will also touch on how these biases can be directly modified through attention bias modification (ABM), which is a disseminable computer-based intervention that has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression (Wells and Beevers, 2010).
The first speaker will present evidence demonstrating infants’ display of attentional bias away from sad faces, measured by behavioral observation and coupled with changes in infant heart rate, as an emotion regulation strategy in infants of depressed mothers. The second speaker will present research on event-related potential indicators of attention in anticipation of threat and its relation to risk for psychopathology (both internalizing and externalizing). The third speaker will present methods for assessing the psychometric properties of attention bias score metrics, including data from an online study of attention bias in young adults using a novel method that could allow for remote assessment of attention bias (Anwyl-Irvine, Armstrong, and Dalmaijer, 2021). The fourth speaker will present a randomized controlled trial of Attention Bias Modification in adults, providing experimental evidence that altering negative attention bias in depressed individuals is associated with significant reductions in depression. Our discussant will highlight themes and put these findings in the context of previous attention bias work, as well as discuss directions for future research. Learning Objectives:
Presenter: Brandon Gibb, Ph.D. – Binghamton University
Co-author: Sherryl Goodman, PhD – Emory University
Co-author: Peter Gerhardstein, PhD – Binghamton University
Co-author: Paul Hastings, PhD – University of California, Davis
Co-author: Claire Foster, MS – Binghamton University
Co-author: Holly Kobezak, BA – Northern Illinois University
Presenter: Brady Nelson, Ph.D. – Stony Brook University
Co-author: Clare C. Beatty, BA – Stony Brook University
Co-author: Rachel Ferry, PhD – Stony Brook University
Co-author: Daniel Klein, Ph.D. – Stony Brook University
Presenter: Mary E. McNamara, M.A. – The University of Texas at Austin
Co-author: Christopher Beevers, Ph.D. – The University of Texas at Austin
Co-author: Jason Shumake, PhD – University of Texas at Austin
Presenter: Christopher Beevers, Ph.D. – The University of Texas at Austin
Co-author: Kean Hsu, PhD – Georgetown University
Co-author: Jasper Smits, Ph.D. – The University of Texas at Austin
Co-author: David Schnyer, PhD – University of Texas at Austin
Co-author: Jason Shumake, PhD – University of Texas at Austin