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Attentional Biases and Vulnerability to Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Myriam Gallardo Pérez ,
Rosa Mª Baños Rivera ,
Amparo Belloch Fuster  and
Mª Ángeles Ruipérez Rodríguez
Myriam Gallardo Pérez
Affiliation:
University of Jaume I
Rosa Mª Baños Rivera*
Affiliation:
University of Valencia
Amparo Belloch Fuster
Affiliation:
University of Valencia
Mª Ángeles Ruipérez Rodríguez
Affiliation:
University of Jaume I
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Rosa María Baños, Departamento de Personalidad. Facultad de Psicología. Avda. Blasco Ibáñez, 21. 46010 Valencia (Spain). E-mail: banos@uv.es
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Abstract

This study was designed to examine selective processing of emotional information in depression. It focuses on possible attentional biases in depression, and whether such biases constitute a cognitive vulnerability factor to suffer from the disorder or, on the contrary, they reflect a feature associated exclusively with the clinical level of depression. 81 participants were included in the study: 15 with a diagnosis of Major Depression; 17 were diagnosed as Dysthymia; 11 participants scored over 18 in the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979); 15 participants, in whom a sad mood state was induced by an experimental mood induction (Velten technique + music, or biographical recall + music); and 23 participants as a normal-control group. All participants were presented with the emotional Stroop task. The data indicated that attentional bias was only present in the group of patients with Major Depression, so it does not seem to be a cognitive vulnerability factor for this disorder.

En este trabajo se examina el procesamiento selectivo de la información emocional en depresión. Los objetivos se centran en comprobar, en primer lugar, si existen o no sesgos atencionales en la depresión y, en segundo lugar, si estos sesgos constituyen un factor de vulnerabilidad cognitiva a padecer el trastorno o si, por el contrario, reflejan una característica asociada exclusivamente al nivel clínico de depresión. Los participantes fueron 15 pacientes con diagnóstico de Depresión Mayor, 17 pacientes con diagnóstico de Distimia, 11 personas con una puntuación superior a 18 en el Inventario de Depresión de Beck (Beck, Rush, Shaw y Emery, 1979), 15 personas a las que se indujo un estado de ánimo triste (técnica Velten con música, o recuerdo autobiográfico con música) y 23 personas “controles”. Todos los sujetos cumplimentaron la tarea Stroop emocional. Los datos indicaron que el sesgo atencional sólo se manifestaba en el subgrupo de Depresión Mayor, por lo que no parece constituir un factor de vulnerabilidad cognitiva para la depresión.

Keywords

depressionvulnerabilityattentional biasesStroop taskdepresiónvulnerabilidadsesgos atencionalestarea Stroop
Type
Articles
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 2 , May 1999 , pp. 11 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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