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This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. RUNNING HEAD: attention training, reappraisal and rumination Eye-gaze contingent attention training (ECAT):Examining the causal role of attention regulation in reappraisal and rumination

Brooding is considered a maladaptive form of emotion regulation linking adverse events to increases in depressive symptoms. The "Impaired Disengagement Hypothesis" (Koster, De Lissnyder, Derakshan & De Raedt, 2011) proposes that attentional disengagement processes are a main mechanism involved in the emergence and maintenance of brooding responses. In this study we tested prospective predictions derived from this framework, relying on eye-tracking to assess direct processes of attentional disengagement from emotional faces (i.e., time to move gaze away from either positive or negative faces when prompted to fixate a different face). A sample of undergraduates (n=89) completed measures of depression, brooding, and the attentional disengagement task at baseline (beginning of the semester) and five months later (immediately after a stressful period: examination). The results supported a moderated mediation model where slower disengagement from positive faces at baseline (predictor) predicted decreases in brooding during the follow-up period (mediator), indirectly predicting decreased depressive symptoms at follow-up (outcome) in individuals encountering more adverse events during the follow-up period (moderator). Furthermore, analyses also supported a moderation model where more habitual brooding at baseline (predictor) predicted slower disengagement from negative faces at follow-up (outcome) in individuals encountering more adverse events (moderator). Our findings support bidirectional influences between attentional disengagement and brooding and highlight protective attention patterns with implications for the development of efficient strategies for the prevention of depression.

Stress dysregulation is a transdiagnostic marker of emotional disorders, related to biases in attention toward negative information. We adapted a computerized process-based training targeting these attention mechanisms through mouse-based contingency responses and examined its effects on reappraisal and rumination. Forty-one participants were randomly assigned to either a control or an active training condition of mouse-based contingent attention training (MCAT).Participants in the active condition were instructed to allocate attention toward positive words to generate positive interpretations, by using attention regulation while receiving contingent feedback on their attention to emotional words. Participants in the control condition freely generated interpretations without receiving contingent feedback. Transfer to reappraisal and state rumination was evaluated by administering an emotion regulation paradigm before and after the training. Mouse-based attention estimations showed a high degree of congruency with real eye/gaze-based attention estimations, as measured with eye-tracking performed in parallel.Furthermore, active MCAT resulted in several beneficial effects, including: 1) a higher attention toward positive over negative information; 2) an improved reappraisal ability to down-regulate negative emotions, and 3) a larger state rumination reduction in comparison to the control group.Our findings supports MCAT as a promising way to monitor and train attention, being an innovative instrument for online interventions aimed to improve stress regulation and resilience.

This study used a novel eye-gaze contingent attention training (ECAT) to test the prediction that attention regulation is involved in reappraisal and rumination. Sixty-six undergraduates were randomly assigned to either the control or the active training condition of the ECAT. Active ECAT comprised training in allocating attention toward positive words to efficiently create positive interpretations while receiving gaze-contingent feedback. Participants in the control condition freely generated interpretations without receiving gaze-contingent feedback. Active ECAT resulted in: 1) more sustained attention on positive information, in turn predicting greater reappraisal success to down-regulate negative emotions, and 2) larger reductions in state rumination after viewing negative scenes. Our results highlight the importance of considering attention mechanisms in understanding (and treating impaired) emotion regulation processes.These findings provide an important step toward the use of personalized attention training to build resources of resilience.