Dual-task attention deficits in dysphoric mood.

Full Abstract

The attentional functioning of nondysphoric, mildly dysphoric, and moderately to severely dysphoric college students was tested using the attentional blink (AB) paradigm. These groups performed equally well at reporting a single target appearing in a rapidly presented stream of stimuli. All groups showed an AB, with report sensitivity for a 2nd target being reduced when the 2 targets were presented less than 0.5 s apart. Nondysphoric and mildly dysphoric participants showed the same size ABs, but the ABs for moderately to severely dysphoric participants were larger and longer. As predicted, the results showed that moderately to severely dysphoric individuals have attentional impairments. These impairments, however, were evident only in the more demanding dual-task condition.

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Author information

Author/s: Rokke, Paul D (PD); Arnell, Karen M (KM); Koch, Michelle D (MD); Andrews, John T (JT);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo 58105-5075, USA. Paul.Rokke(-atsign-)ndsu.nodak.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of abnormal psychology (J Abnorm Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-May; vol 111 (issue 2) : pp 370-9

Dates: Created 2002/05/10; Completed 2002/06/07; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12003458, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Anxiety - diagnosis; psychology
Attention
Depression - diagnosis; psychology
Female

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