Logo image
The effects of priming in a cued dot-probe task on appearance-related attentional biases in women
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The effects of priming in a cued dot-probe task on appearance-related attentional biases in women

Ben R Lane, Kate Mulgrew, Doug P Mahar, Melanie J White and Siobhan Loughnan
International Journal of Eating Disorders, Vol.50(7), pp.817-825
2017
pdf
The effects of priming in a cued dot-probe task on appearance-related attentional biases in women196.15 kBDownloadView
Accepted Version Open Access
url
https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22699View
Published Version

Abstract

attentional bias body image dot-probe task media influences women
The dot-probe task (DPT) is a reaction time measure of attentional bias. Research using this task has found inconsistent patterns of appearance-related attentional biases in women. This study examined the effects of a novel priming variation of the DPT, which incorporated additional cues into each trial of the task, on measurement of such biases. The study also examined associations between these biases and body image, a component of eating disorder symptomatology. A convenience sample of women from the general community (N = 103) completed body image measures online and attended a laboratory session to complete one of four DPTs: (1) an appearance-cued DPT containing images of thin-ideal models between each trial; (2) neutral-cued DPT containing images of forests; (3) time-delayed DPT controlling for time in place of an image; or (4) typical DPT containing only word stimuli. Women who completed the appearance-cued DPT demonstrated a stronger attentional bias for positive, but not negative, appearance words than women who completed the other DPT versions. Furthermore, for the appearance-cued and time-delayed DPTs, this bias correlated with poorer body image across several indicators (appearance evaluation, body dissatisfaction, self-evaluative salience of appearance, and state body satisfaction). Although it was unexpected that no attentional bias for negative-appearance words was found, the attentional bias for positive-appearance words may suggest that effects were driven by the ego-threat of positive-appearance words. Further research is warranted to determine whether such biases contribute to and maintain body image disturbance and disordered eating.

Details

Metrics

23 File views/ downloads
768 Record Views

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas
Nutrition & Dietetics
Psychiatry
Psychology
Psychology, Clinical

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#5 Gender Equality

Source: InCites

Logo image