Attentional bias to signals predicting negative information in depression: Evidence from a reliable attention paradigm

Cognitive models propose that depression is characterised by cognitive biases that prioritise negative emotional information. Experiments testing this proposal at early stages of attention have generally supported the proposal, but have resulted in mixed findings regarding whether attention is biased in attentional orienting toward negative information. However, common methods used have shown poor measurement reliability or have not separated cognitive prioritisation from stimulus driven attentional capture. New methods measuring attentional biases to non-emotional signals of future emotional information can resolved this issue and have demonstrated appropriate measurement reliability (Basanovic, 2024). Thus, the present study tested whether depression is characterised by attentional biases to signals of future negative emotional information. Unselected adult participants (analysed sample N = 240) reported depression symptoms and completed an assessment of attention to non-emotional cues signalling sad faces. Higher depression predicted greater attentional bias toward cues signalling sad faces, with moderate to high split-half measurement reliability ( r split-half = .68 – .74). Findings indicate that depression is characterised by an attentional bias toward signals of negative information. This aligns with cognitive theories that propose depression is characterised by cognitive biases that favour the processing of negative information, and reveals the presence of anticipatory attentional biases in depression. • Higher depression predicts attention bias toward cues signalling sad faces • The bias can be measured with moderate to high reliability • Findings support cognitive theories of depression • Findings challenge disengagement-only explanations of attention bias in depression