Investigation of attentional bias in anxiety through exposure to facial expressions: an eye-tracking study/ Investigacao do vies atencional na ansiedade por meio da exposicao a expressoes faciais: um estudo de rastreamento ocular

The present study investigated attentional biases in anxiety using facial expressions and eye-tracking measures. Seventy-six participants, between 18 and 36 years, took part in the study and were divided based on trait anxiety levels: Low, Moderate, and High. The stimuli were facial expressions, and the measures of interest were Probability of First Fixation and Proportion of Fixation Time. The results revealed vigilance biases towards expressions of disgust, regardless of anxiety level, and maintenance biases towards expressions of happiness, regardless of stimulus presentation time, in the Low Trait Anxiety group compared to the High Trait Anxiety group. These findings raise questions related to the importance of using positive stimuli in anxiety treatment and the need to specify the types, levels, and characteristics of stimuli used in research. O presente estudo investigou vieses atencionais na ansiedade utilizando expressoes faciais e medidas de rastreamento ocular. Os resultados evidenciaram vieses de vigilancia para expressoes de nojo, independentemente do nivel de ansiedade, e vieses de manutencao para expressoes de alegria, independentemente do tempo de apresentacao dos estimulos, no grupo Baixa Ansiedade Traco, quando comparado com o grupo Alta Ansiedade Traco.