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Background and Objective: Difficulties to engage attention to positive stimuli and to disengage attention from negative stimuli are typically found in depression. Yet, most of the evidence supporting these attentional biases comes from experimental paradigms in which emotional information (e.g., happy or sad faces) is simultaneously presented with neutral information. Few studies have explored attentional biases when emotional stimuli of different valence are presented simultaneously. The aim of the present study was to assess visual scan patterns of non-dysphoric and dysphoric participants when emotional information is presented simultaneously., Method: Using an eye-tracker methodology, the gradient relation between attentional biases and depression scores as well as differences between groups in their attentional performance were assessed in non-dysphoric participants (N = 84) and dysphoric participants (N = 58). Three different pairs of faces were used: happy-neutral, neutral-sad, and happy-sad., Results: First, we found that simultaneous presentation of emotional information (i.e., happy vs. negative faces) reduces the magnitude of attentional biases towards positive information. Second, we also found a significant negative relation between attentional biases towards positive information and depression scores. Finally, compared to non-dysphoric participants, dysphoric individuals marginally spent less time attending positive information in both happy-neutral and happy-sad trials., Limitations: The cross-sectional nature of our study does not allow us to make inferences about causality. Further, only one type of simultaneous emotional faces presentation (i.e., happy-sad) was used., Conclusions: These results support the need for further research on the processing of competing emotional stimuli in depression., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study examines whether a 4-day dot-probe attentional training to orient attention toward positive words could lead participants with dysphoria to change selective attention to emotional faces. It was also explored whether this positive attentional bias training could lead to a decrease in depressive symptoms., Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to Positive Training Group (PTG) and No Training Group (NTG). PTG was composed of 16 subjects, whereas NTG was composed of 15 subjects. All participants were women with a mean age of 22.87 (SD = 3.21)., Results: Results showed that dysphoric participants in the PTG did not show changes in attentional patterns to emotional faces. Furthermore, depressive symptoms did not significantly change after the 4-session training., Conclusions: These results suggest that cognitive training procedures based on dot-probe paradigms are probably not adequate to modify attentional patterns in individuals with depressive symptoms. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Although there is a growing interest in the role of attentional biases in depression, there are no studies assessing changes in these biases after psychotherapeutic interventions., Methods: We used a validated eye-tracking procedure to assess pre-post therapy changes in attentional biases toward emotional information (i.e., happy, sad, and angry faces) when presented with neutral information (i.e., neutral faces). The sample consisted of 75 participants with major depression or dysthymia. Participants were blindly assigned to one of two 10 weekly sessions of group therapy: a cognitive behavior therapy intervention (N = 41) and a positive psychology intervention (N = 34)., Results: Both treatments were equally efficacious in improving depressive symptoms (p = .0001, η² = .68). A significant change in attentional performance after therapy was observed irrespective of the intervention modality. Comparison of pre-post attentional measures revealed a significant reduction in the total time of fixations (TTF) looking at negative information (i.e., sad and angry faces) and a significant increase in the TTF looking at positive information (i.e., happy faces)-all p < .02., Conclusions: Findings reveal for the first time that psychotherapeutic interventions are associated with a significant change in attentional biases as assessed by a direct measure of attention. Furthermore, these changes seem to operate in the same direction typically found in healthy populations (i.e., a bias away from negative information and a parallel bias toward positive information). These findings illustrate the importance of considering attentional biases as clinical markers of depression and suggest the viability of modifying these biases as a potential tool for clinical change., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Attentional biases, namely difficulties both to disengage attention from negative information and to maintain it on positive information, play an important role in the onset and maintenance of the disorder. Recently, researchers have developed specific attentional bias modification (ABM) techniques aimed to modify these maladaptive attentional patterns. However, the application of current ABM procedures has yielded, so far, scarce results in depression due, in part, to some methodological shortcomings. The aim of our protocol is the application of a new ABM technique, based on eye-tracker technology, designed to objectively train the specific attentional components involved in depression and, eventually, to reduce depressive symptoms., Methods: Based on sample size calculations, 32 dysphoric (BDI ≥13) participants will be allocated to either an active attentional bias training group or a yoked-control group. Attentional training will be individually administered on two sessions in two consecutive days at the lab. In the training task series of pairs of faces (i.e. neutral vs. sad; neutral vs. happy; happy vs. sad) will be displayed. Participants in the training group will be asked to localize as quickly as possible the most positive face of the pair (e.g., the neutral face in neutral vs. sad trials) and maintain their gaze on it for 750 ms or 1500 ms, in two different blocks, to advance to the next trial. Participants' maintenance of gaze will be measured by an eye-tracking apparatus. Participants in the yoked-control group will be exposed to the same stimuli and the same average amount of time than the experimental participants but without any instruction to maintain their gaze or any feedback on their performance. Pre and post training measures will be obtained to assess cognitive and emotional changes after the training., Discussion: The findings from this research will provide a proof-of-principle of the efficacy of eye-tracking paradigms to modify attentional biases and, consequently, to improve depressed mood. If the findings are positive, this new training approach may result in the improvement of cognitive bias modification procedures in depression., Trial Registration: This trial was retrospectively registered on July 28, 2016 with the ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02847793 registration number and the title 'Attentional Bias Modification Through Eye-tracker Methodology (ABMET)'.

Both hedonic and eudemonic components of well-being have been related to different variables such as mental and physical health, or social and economic factors. However, and despite the growing interest in the study of well-being, there is scarce evidence on the role that these components play in high cognitive processes such as attentional deployment towards emotional information. The aim of the present study is to disentangle the relation between current affect (state hedonic well-being), integrative well-being (i.e. hedonic, eudaimonic and social well-being), and attentional biases towards emotional information. Participants (N = 119) performed and eye-tracking task where they were asked to freely watch a series of 108 pairs of faces depicting happy, sad or neutral expressions in three types of conditions (i.e. happy vs. neutral, sad vs. neutral, and happy vs. sad faces). Results showed that both current affect and integrative well-being were associated with a maintenance attentional bias towards positive information (i.e. happy faces). Further, using bootstrapping mediation analysis, we found that the relation observed between current affect and positive maintenance attentional biases was totally mediated by integrative well-being levels. We discuss the relevance of the present results in the incipient research on cognitive and emotional processes and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Negative interpretation bias is a potential risk factor for emotional disorders. • A new clinically-based online Cognitive Bias Modification program was administered. • Self-report and experimental tasks were used to disentangle mechanisms of change. • The program directly reduced interpretation and memory biases. • Changes in interpretation bias mediated improvement in depression symptoms. Negative interpretation bias is a potential risk factor for emotional disorders. In this study, we tested a clinically inspired 4-session online Cognitive Bias Modification-Interpretation (CBM-I Clin) program to modify negative interpretation biases. We randomized one hundred and twenty-one volunteer young adults (Mean age = 21.6 years, SD = 3.5; 85 % women) with varying levels of emotional distress to either an experimental or waitlist control group. Mediation analyses were used to disentangle the associations between the intervention, changes in interpretation biases (assessed by both a self-report and an experimental task), and changes in measures of cognitive vulnerability and symptoms of depression and anxiety. The results showed that the CBM-I Clin could change negative interpretation biases. Also, it had a direct effect on the change in negative memory bias, an indirect effect on the change in depression symptoms via the change in interpretation bias, and both direct and indirect effects on the change in self-reported dysfunctional attitudes. The study included a non-clinical sample of participants and it did not control for some potential confounding factors (e.g., attentional disorders). Furthermore, participants' engagement during the sessions at home was not supervised. The CBM-I Clin is a potential tool to prevent and intervene in emotional disorders in young adults and could complement other traditional CBM procedures or clinical interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]