Investigação do viés atencional na ansiedade mediante exposição de expressões faciais: evidências de rastreamento ocular

Abstract

This thesis aimed to study the mechanisms involved in Attentional Bias in Anxiety (ABA), towards the exposure of facial expressions measured by Eye Tracking (ET). For this purpose, two articles were developed. Article I aimed to analyze the use of ET measures in the assessment of ABA, through a literature review. In this sense, an electronic search was carried out on PsycINFO, PubMed and Web of Science databases, in which 57 reports were found. However, after removing duplicates, screening titles and abstracts, and matching eligibility criteria, eight reports remained. Results raised relevant questions regarding the use of eye tracking in the investigation of attentional bias in anxiety. Some of them concern the need for improvements in the protocols, but the main issue concerns to the observation of the maintenance mechanism as main factor in the processing of attention in anxiety. This finding differs from previous studies, bringing important implications to the understanding of how anxiety symptoms are maintained. Article II aimed to investigate the ABA towards the exposure of facial expressions measure by ET. A convenience sample of 76 participants was divided in three groups, according to the score on the STAI-T: Low Trait Anxiety (LTA; n = 26), Moderate Trait Anxiety (MTA; n = 25), and High Trait Anxiety (HTA; n = 25). Through mixed ANOVAs, results showed a vigilance bias for expressions of disgust regardless of the level of anxiety; and a maintenance bias for expressions of joy in the LTA group when compared to the HTA group, regardless of the time of presentation of the stimuli. Although data partially agrees with previous studies, the hypotheses raised in this research have not been corroborated. Differently, results showed a distinct attentional processing and indicated fundamental questions related to the importance of positive stimuli in the treatment of anxiety and to the specificities of the types, levels and characteristics of the stimuli used in research projects. It is concluded that, overall, this thesis shows a direction slightly different from what has been previously found in the literature and suggests a distinct attentional processing pattern, which can be considered for future investigations on ABA.