Suzanne Dash

Systematic information processing style and perseverative worry

This review examines the theoretical rationale for conceiving of systematic information processing as a proximal mechanism for perseverative worry. Systematic processing is characterised by detailed, analytical thought about issue-relevant information, and in this way, is similar to the persistent, detailed processing of information that typifies perseverative worry. We review the key features and determinants of systematic processing, and examine the application of systematic processing to perseverative worry. We argue that systematic processing is a mechanism involved in perseverative worry because (1) systematic processing is more likely to be deployed when individuals feel that they have not reached a satisfactory level of confidence in their judgement and this is similar to the worriers striving to feel adequately prepared, to have considered every possible negative outcome/detect all potential danger, and to be sure that they will successfully cope with perceived future problems; (2) systematic processing and worry are influenced by similar psychological cognitive states and appraisals; and (3) the functional neuroanatomy underlying systematic processing is located in the same brain regions that are activated during worrying. This proposed mechanism is derived from core psychological processes and offers a number of clinical implications, including the identification of psychological states and appraisals that may benefit from therapeutic interventions for worry-based problems.

No significant evidence of cognitive biases for emotional stimuli in children at-risk of developing anxiety disorders

This paper explores whether the increased vulnerability of children of anxious parents to develop anxiety disorders may be partially explained by these children having increased cognitive biases towards threat compared with children of non-anxious parents. Parents completed questionnaires about their child’s anxiety symptoms. Children aged 5–9 (n = 85) participated in two cognitive bias tasks: 1) an emotion recognition task, and 2) an ambiguous situations questionnaire. For the emotion recognition task, there were no significant differences between at-risk children and children of non-anxious parents in their cognitive bias scores for reaction times or for accuracy in identifying angry or happy facial expressions. In addition, there were no significant differences between at-risk children and children of non-anxious parents in the number of threat interpretations made for the ambiguous situations questionnaire. It is possible that these cognitive biases only become present subsequent to the development of an anxiety disorder, or only in older at-risk children.

The role of facial feedback in the modulation of clinically-relevant ambiguity resolution

Two experiments investigated the effect of facial expressions on clinically-relevant ambiguity resolution in a nonclinical sample. Experiment 1 investigated the effect of negative facial feedback (frowning) on a basic threat-interpretation bias procedure using a homophone spelling task and found that participants in a frowning condition interpreted significantly more threat/neutral homophones as threats than did participants in a neutral control condition. Experiment 2 investigated how frowning affected interpretation of bodily sensations. The findings indicated that participants in the frowning condition generated fewer positive consequences for bodily sensation scenarios and also rated the imagined bodily sensations as more negative and more of a cause for health concern. These effects could not simply be explained by differences in self-reported mood or by demand characteristics. These findings suggest that facial expressions have a moderating effect on the cognitive processes that contribute to clinically-relevant ambiguity resolution, and this has implications for clinical interventions.

The Effect of Facial Expressions on the Evaluation of Ambiguous Statements

The present experiment adapted the “Voluntary Facial Action” (VFA) technique (Dimberg & Söderkvist, 2011) to study the effect of facial expressions on the interpretation of ambiguity. This required participants to react with either the zygomatic major muscles (smile) or the corrugator supercilii muscles (frown) when exposed to different stimuli, some of which were ambiguous statements. While contracting the required facial muscles, participants also rated each stimulus on a negative-positive scale. Results indicated that participants contracting smiling muscles during ambiguous statements rated those statements as significantly more positive than participants contracting frowning-relevant muscles. This effect remained significant in participants who were unaware of the purpose of the experiment, and unaware that the experiment was related to mood. Previous studies have demonstrated that facial expressions can reflect the valency of a bias in responding to ambiguous stimuli (e.g. Neta, Norris, & Whalen, 2009), but the present study goes further by suggesting that facial expressions can actively influence the interpretation of stimuli as complex as verbal statements. Some of the implications for the way in which facial expressions may influence cognitive processes relevant to psychopathology are discussed.