Avoidance behaviour generalizes to eye processing in posttraumatic stress disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Avoidance describes any action designed to prevent an uncomfortable situation or emotion from occurring. Although it is a common reaction to trauma, avoidance becomes problematic when it is the primary coping strategy, and plays a major role in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Avoidance in PTSD may generalize to non-harmful environmental cues that are perceived to be unsafe.

Objective

We tested whether avoidance extends to social cues (i.e. emotional gazes) that are unrelated to trauma.

Method

A total of 159 participants (103 who had been exposed to the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks and 56 who had not) performed a gaze-cueing task featuring sad, happy and neutral faces. Attention to the eye area was recorded usi

SUBMITTER: Coll SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9037205 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature