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Interpretive bias in social phobia: An ERP study with morphed emotional schematic faces

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 23; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02699930801940461

1464-0600

Iris‐Tatjana Kolassa, Stephan Kolassa, Sandra Bergmann, Romy Lauche, Stefan Dilger, Wolfgang H. R. Miltner, Frauke Musial,

Emotions and Moral Behavior

Abstract Individuals with social phobia fear negative evaluation, which is most directly signalled by an angry expression of the interlocutor's face. This study investigated the processing of 3 series of schematic emotional faces, which were morphed in 7 steps from a neutral face to an angry, happy, or sad face by systematically varying features of the mouth, eyes, and eyebrows. Individuals with social phobia or spider phobia rated angry faces as more arousing than controls. Social phobics did not identify angry faces faster and showed no greater latent trait to identify a face as angry than controls. ERP data showed a modulation of the face-specific N170 by facial emotion, although this did not discriminate social phobics from controls. Instead, phobic subjects exhibited generally increased visual P1 amplitudes, suggesting a state of hypervigilance for incoming stimuli. Results are discussed in the context of psychophysiological abnormalities in the anxiety disorder spectrum. Acknowledgements This study was funded by grant Mi265/6–1/6–2 of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) awarded to WHRM. We would also like to thank the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) for awarding a doctoral grant to ITK. ITK is now at the Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology, University of Konstanz, Germany. SB is now at the Institut für Therapieforschung, Munich, Germany. SK is now at SAF AG, Tägerwilen, Switzerland. FM is now at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Essen. Thanks are also due to Arlette Buchmann for her assistance in conducting the study.