Eye-Movement Methodology Reveals a Shift in Attention from Threat to Neutral Stimuli with Self-Reported Symptoms of Social Anxiety across Children, Adolescents and Adults

Abstract

The current study used an eye-movement remote distractor paradigm (RDP) to examine the relationship between self-reported symptoms of social anxiety in children (9-11-year-olds), young adolescents (12-14-year-olds) and adults (18-43-year-olds) on saccade latencies to identify a target and saccadic errors to task irrelevant distractor angry, neutral and happy face stimuli. Distractor stimuli were presented at the same time, and either at the centre of the display, or at a contralateral parafoveal or peripheral location to the target. The presence of face distractors was associated with increased saccadic errors (indicating selective attention to task-irrelevant stimuli) and slower saccade latencies to identify a target. Saccadic errors decreased between age groups and saccade latencies and were greatest in the adolescent group. Symptoms of social anxiety in children were associated with increased saccade latencies in the presence of angry and neutral (versus happy) faces suggesting avoidance of these emotion expressions in this age group. In contrast, symptoms of social anxiety in adolescents and adults were respectively linked with longer latencies for neutral (versus angry), and neutral (versus happy and angry) faces, indicating an increasing salience of neutral faces in adulthood. The results support the proposition that neutral faces represent ambiguous and potentially negative stimuli for individuals who experience elevated social anxiety. Collectively, they fit with previous research that has questioned the role of neutral faces as non-emotional control stimuli in attention research and anxiety.