Attentional Processing of Unpleasant Stimuli in Alexithymia

Abstract

Alexithymia is a multi-faceted personality trait defined by difficulties in identifying and describing emotions and is considered a risk factor for multiple psychiatric disorders. Current alexithymia research debates the type of attention bias involved in the processing of negative emotional information, especially in anxiety-evoking situations that are frequently associated with stress states. Relatedly, this study aims to examine the role of emotional influence on the attentional processing of Taiwanese alexithymic individuals. Using the Chinese version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), individuals with high alexithymia (HA: TAS > 60, n = 26; Mage = 23.36) and individuals with low alexithymia (LA: TAS < 39, n = 26; Mage = 25.76) were recruited. Participants performed an emotional counting Stroop task preceded by anxiety-evoking (threatening and aversive pictures) or neutral pictures. Reaction times (RTs) of the emotional Stroop task were compared between HA and LA groups. Our results demonstrate that compared to individuals with LA, individuals with HA show early avoidance tendency (i.e., allocate less attentional resources to anxiety-evoking stimuli), and that negative affect therefore does not interfere with subsequent attention processing during the Stroop task, resulting in faster RT for unpleasant stimuli ( Mthreatening = 683.87, Maversive = 685.87) than neutral stimuli ( Mneutral = 695.64) ( ps < .05). In addition, the attentional bias toward specific types of negative emotion was not differentiated in individuals with HA ( p < .05), suggesting that alexithymic individuals’ emotion schemas may be underdeveloped in terms of ability to specify exact emotions. This study provides evidence regarding early sensitization to negative stimuli during information processing, consistent with the notion that alexithymia is related to avoidant emotion regulation processes.

Effect of Physical Exercise on Executive Functions Using the Emotional Stroop Task in Perimenopausal Women: A Pilot Study

“…Each emotion w was presented five times for each color. Each trial proceeded as follows: a fixation p "+" appeared at the center of the computer screen for 0.5 s. The fixation point was t replaced by a stimulus word that remained on-screen for 3 s (unless the response of participant was faster, in which case the display time was reduced), followed by ano Our modified EST materials are derived from previously well-validated and reliable sources, and they have also been approved as applicable for the Chinese population [36][37][38]. The protocols were piloted and established before the official experiment to ensure the best possible avoidance of sleepiness, especially with respect to post-exercise fatigue.…”