ABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the characteristics of attentional bias to emotional faces of depressed college students with alexithymia.Methods:Using self-rating depression scale (SDS) and the twenty-item Toronto alexithymia scale(TAS-20), 25 low alexithymic-currently depressed undergraduates (LA-CD group), 33 low alexithymic-non depressed undergraduates(LA-ND group) and 23 high alexithymic-currently depressed undergraduates(HA-CD group) were selected from 885 valid questionnaires.Using eye tracking system, emotional face pictures were selected as stimulus materials, and the relative gaze time(attention bias score) of experimental participants was analyzed by statistical methods such as covariance analysis and adjustment analysis to explore the attentional bias of depressed college students with alexithymia.Results:(1) Under the low level of alexithymia, there was significant difference in attentional bias between college students in depression group (-0.23±0.18) and non-depressed group (0.06±0.11) ( F=55.876, P<0.01). (2) There were significant differences in relative attention bias among LA-CD group (-0.234±0.150), HA-CD group(-0.070±0.153) and LA-ND group (0.064±0.149) ( F(2, 78)=27.685, P<0.01). According to Bonferroni test, compared to the LA-CD group, the HA-CD group and LA-ND group showed less negative attentional bias.(3) The interaction between total SDS score and total TAS-20 score showed significant difference.Alexithymia played a regulatory role between total SDS score and attentional bias( β=0.333, t=3.345, P<0.01). Conclusion:Both the depressed college students with high alexithymia and the non-depressed college students with low alexithymia show less negative attentional bias.Alexithymia plays a regulatory role between depression and attentional bias.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the attentional bias to emotional faces on individuals in the remitted phase of recurrent depression through eye-tracking study.Methods Center for epidemiologic studies depression scale (CES-D) and Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) were used to the diagnosis of 24 normal individuals and 21 depressed individuals and 24 individuals in the remitted phase of recurrent depression.Emotion face pictures were chosen as experiment material and discuss the mechanism of the attentional bias of individuals in the remitted phase of recurrent depression through the analysis of eye movement index.Results First fixation duration bias score on happy expression picture of individuals in the remitted phase of recurrent depression((52.60±0.06) ％) was less than normal controls ((59.26±0.09) ％) and the depression group((53.27±0.07)％),(F(1.66)=12.32,7.23,P＜0.05).Gaze Duration Bias score on sad expression picture of individuals in the remitted phase of recurrent depression ((59.17±0.08) ％) was more than normal controls((49.67±0.07) ％),(F(1.66) =4.29,P＜0.05).Conclusion Individuals in the remitted phase of recurrent depression show no original direction bias to sad and happy expression pictures.Original attentional avoidance and total attentional maintenance to sad expression picture exist in individuals in the remitted phase of recurrent depression.