Sleep-related attentional bias for tired faces in insomnia: Evidence from a dot-probe paradigm

AKRAM, Umair, BEATTIE, Louise, YPSILANTI, Antonia, REIDY, John, ROBSON, Anna, CHAPMAN, Ashley J. and BARCLAY, Nicola L. (2018). Sleep-related attentional bias for tired faces in insomnia: Evidence from a dot-probe paradigm. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 103, 18-23.

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Official URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/...
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2018.01.007

Abstract

People with insomnia often display an attentional bias for sleep-specific stimuli. However, prior studies have mostly utilized sleep-related words and images, and research is yet to examine whether people with insomnia display an attentional bias for sleep-specific (i.e. tired appearing) facial stimuli. This study aimed to examine whether individuals with insomnia present an attentional bias for sleep-specific faces depicting tiredness compared to normal-sleepers. Additionally, we aimed to determine whether the presence of an attentional bias was characterized by vigilance or disengagement. Forty-one individuals who meet the DSM-5 criteria for Insomnia Disorder and 41 normal-sleepers completed a dot-probe task comprising of neutral and sleep-specific tired faces. The results demonstrated that vigilance and disengagement scores differed significantly between the insomnia and normal-sleeper groups. Specifically, individuals with insomnia displayed difficulty in both orienting to and disengaging attention from tired faces compared to normal-sleepers. Using tired facial stimuli, the current study provides novel evidence that insomnia is characterized by a sleep-related attentional bias. These outcomes support cognitive models of insomnia by suggesting that individuals with insomnia monitor tiredness in their social environment.

Item Type: Article
Departments - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities > Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2018.01.007
Page Range: 18-23
Depositing User: Umair Akram
Date Deposited: 15 Feb 2018 09:05
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 02:47
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/18666

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