Attention training normalises combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder effects on emotional Stroop performance using lexically matched word lists |
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| Authors: | Maya M. Khanna Amy S. Badura-Brack Timothy J. McDermott Alex Shepherd Elizabeth Heinrichs-Graham Daniel S. Pine |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA;2. Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska—Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA;3. National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD, USA |
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| Abstract: | We examined two groups of combat veterans, one with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (n?=?27) and another without PTSD (n?=?16), using an emotional Stroop task (EST) with word lists matched across a series of lexical variables (e.g. length, frequency, neighbourhood size, etc.). Participants with PTSD exhibited a strong EST effect (longer colour-naming latencies for combat-relevant words as compared to neutral words). Veterans without PTSD produced no such effect, t?p?>?.37. Participants with PTSD then completed eight sessions of attention training (Attention Control Training or Attention Bias Modification Training) with a dot-probe task utilising threatening and neutral faces. After training, participants—especially those undergoing Attention Control Training—no longer produced longer colour-naming latencies for combat-related words as compared to other words, indicating normalised attention allocation processes after treatment. |
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| Keywords: | PTSD attention training emotional Stroop lexically matched lists attention bias modification |
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