Distractibility as a precursor to anxiety: Preexisting attentional control deficits predict subsequent autonomic arousal during anxiety

Abstract

Low attentional control (AC) and high anxiety are closely linked. Researchers often presume that high anxiety reduces AC; however, the reverse causal possibility - that low AC increases anxiety - is equally plausible. We addressed this question in people with elevated trait anxiety by evaluating the temporal precedence of the AC-anxiety association. We tested whether autonomic arousal (electrodermal activity) and subjective anxiety elicited by an anxiety induction were associated more strongly with AC measured either pre-induction (N=40) or post-induction (N=38). Low AC was indexed by distractibility during a visual search task requiring attentional inhibition of emotionally neutral distractors. Higher distractibility predicted higher autonomic activation but not higher increases in self-reported anxiety. Critically, this AC-anxiety association occurred for pre-induction but not post-induction AC. The results suggest that low AC may heighten subsequent anxious arousal. By implication, treatment interventions should specifically enhance AC to alleviate anxiety.

Keywords: Anxiety; Attentional control.