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Contamination fear and attention bias variability early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Patrick J. F. Clarke, Elise Szeremeta, Bram Van Bockstaele (UGent) , Lies Notebaert, Frances Meeten and Jemma Todd
(2024) BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY. 175.
Author
Organization
Abstract
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a dramatic increase in the salience and importance of information relating to both the risk of infection, and factors that could mitigate against such risk. This is likely to have contributed to elevated contamination fear concerns in the general population. Biased attention for contamination -related information has been proposed as a potential mechanism underlying contamination fear, though evidence regarding the presence of such biased attention has been inconsistent. A possible reason for this is that contamination fear may be characterised by variability in attention bias that has not yet been examined. The current study examined the potential association between attention bias variability for both contaminationrelated and mitigation -related stimuli, and contamination fear during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A final sample of 315 participants completed measures of attention bias and contamination fear. The measure of average attention bias for contamination -related stimuli and mitigation -related stimuli was not associated with contamination fear (r = 0.055 and r = 0.051, p > 0.10), though both attention bias variability measures did show a small but statistically significant relationship with contamination fear (r = 0.133, p < 0.05; r = 0.147, p < 0.01). These attention bias variability measures also accounted for significant additional variance in contamination fear above the average attention bias measure (and controlling for response time variability). These findings provide initial evidence for the association between attention bias variability and contamination fear, underscoring a potential target for cognitive bias interventions for clinical contamination fear.
Keywords
Contamination fear, Cognitive bias, Attention bias, Attention bias variability, Mitigation, MEASUREMENT ERROR, CORRELATION ATTENUATION, THREAT, SYMPTOMS, ANXIETY

Citation

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MLA
Clarke, Patrick J. F., et al. “Contamination Fear and Attention Bias Variability Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic.” BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY, vol. 175, 2024, doi:10.1016/j.brat.2024.104497.
APA
Clarke, P. J. F., Szeremeta, E., Van Bockstaele, B., Notebaert, L., Meeten, F., & Todd, J. (2024). Contamination fear and attention bias variability early in the COVID-19 pandemic. BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY, 175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104497
Chicago author-date
Clarke, Patrick J. F., Elise Szeremeta, Bram Van Bockstaele, Lies Notebaert, Frances Meeten, and Jemma Todd. 2024. “Contamination Fear and Attention Bias Variability Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic.” BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY 175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104497.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Clarke, Patrick J. F., Elise Szeremeta, Bram Van Bockstaele, Lies Notebaert, Frances Meeten, and Jemma Todd. 2024. “Contamination Fear and Attention Bias Variability Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic.” BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY 175. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2024.104497.
Vancouver
1.
Clarke PJF, Szeremeta E, Van Bockstaele B, Notebaert L, Meeten F, Todd J. Contamination fear and attention bias variability early in the COVID-19 pandemic. BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY. 2024;175.
IEEE
[1]
P. J. F. Clarke, E. Szeremeta, B. Van Bockstaele, L. Notebaert, F. Meeten, and J. Todd, “Contamination fear and attention bias variability early in the COVID-19 pandemic,” BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY, vol. 175, 2024.
@article{01J5NE4ZCE5GH96SWERR2R4VRB,
  abstract     = {{The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a dramatic increase in the salience and importance of information relating to both the risk of infection, and factors that could mitigate against such risk. This is likely to have contributed to elevated contamination fear concerns in the general population. Biased attention for contamination -related information has been proposed as a potential mechanism underlying contamination fear, though evidence regarding the presence of such biased attention has been inconsistent. A possible reason for this is that contamination fear may be characterised by variability in attention bias that has not yet been examined. The current study examined the potential association between attention bias variability for both contaminationrelated and mitigation -related stimuli, and contamination fear during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A final sample of 315 participants completed measures of attention bias and contamination fear. The measure of average attention bias for contamination -related stimuli and mitigation -related stimuli was not associated with contamination fear (r = 0.055 and r = 0.051, p > 0.10), though both attention bias variability measures did show a small but statistically significant relationship with contamination fear (r = 0.133, p < 0.05; r = 0.147, p < 0.01). These attention bias variability measures also accounted for significant additional variance in contamination fear above the average attention bias measure (and controlling for response time variability). These findings provide initial evidence for the association between attention bias variability and contamination fear, underscoring a potential target for cognitive bias interventions for clinical contamination fear.}},
  articleno    = {{104497}},
  author       = {{Clarke, Patrick J. F. and  Szeremeta, Elise and Van Bockstaele, Bram and  Notebaert, Lies and  Meeten, Frances and  Todd, Jemma}},
  issn         = {{0005-7967}},
  journal      = {{BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY}},
  keywords     = {{Contamination fear,Cognitive bias,Attention bias,Attention bias variability,Mitigation,MEASUREMENT ERROR,CORRELATION ATTENUATION,THREAT,SYMPTOMS,ANXIETY}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{9}},
  title        = {{Contamination fear and attention bias variability early in the COVID-19 pandemic}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104497}},
  volume       = {{175}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}
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