Associations between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Covert and Overt Attention Bias Through Eye-Tracking and Visual Dot Probe

Capriola, Nicole N.

Associations between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Covert and Overt Attention Bias Through Eye-Tracking and Visual Dot Probe

dc.contributor.author	Capriola, Nicole N.	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	White, Susan W.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Richey, John A.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Ollendick, Thomas H.	en
dc.contributor.department	Psychology	en
dc.date.accessioned	2018-05-31T18:55:41Z	en
dc.date.available	2018-05-31T18:55:41Z	en
dc.date.issued	2018-03-26	en
dc.description.abstract	Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by irrational and persistent fears of potential evaluation and scrutiny by others. For socially anxious youth, the core, maladaptive cognition is fear of negative evaluation (FNE). Whereas Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets remediation of intense and unfounded FNE, Attention Bias Modification Treatment (ABMT) targets attention bias. The degree to which FNE and biased attention are related processes is unknown. This study sought to assess the relationship between FNE and two indices of attention bias (dot probe and eye-tracking). In addition, this study examines differences in attention bias between a clinically confirmed group of youth SAD and healthy controls. A significant group difference in average latency to fixate on angry faces was found [F(1,65) = 31.94, p < .001, ηp2 = .33]. However, the pattern was not consistent across the other attention bias metrics (i.e., dot probe bias scores and first fixation direction percentage towards angry faces). In addition, associations between FNE and the attention bias metrics were not statistically significant in either group. Future directions and implications of these findings within the context of refinements to existing interventions are discussed.	en
dc.description.abstractgeneral	Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is characterized by irrational and persistent fears of potential evaluation and scrutiny by others. For socially anxious youth, a main feature of the disorder is fear of negative evaluation (FNE). Whereas Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets FNE, Attention Bias Modification Treatment (ABMT) targets attention bias. However, the degree to which FNE and biased attention are related processes has not been studied. This study examined the relationship between FNE and two indices of attention bias (dot probe and eye-tracking). This study also examines differences in attention bias between a youth with SAD and healthy youth (no psychological diagnoses). Group differences were found for only one attention bias measure (i.e., youth with SAD were quicker to look at anger faces relative to non-anxious youth). In addition, associations between FNE and the attention bias metrics were not statistically significant in either group. Future directions of these findings are discussed.	en
dc.description.degree	Master of Science	en
dc.format.medium	ETD	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/83431	en
dc.language.iso	en_US	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States	en
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/	en
dc.subject	Social Anxiety Disorder	en
dc.subject	Attention Bias	en
dc.subject	Covert Attention	en
dc.subject	Overt Attention	en
dc.subject	Adolescents	en
dc.title	Associations between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Covert and Overt Attention Bias Through Eye-Tracking and Visual Dot Probe	en
dc.type	Thesis	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Clincal Psychology	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	masters	en
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science	en