Investigating emotional facial recognition in trait anxious individuals: an eye-tracking study

Abstract

The current study examined the relationship between the recognition of the six basic emotions as a function of trait anxiety. Previous research has led to conflicting findings; one study reported increased accuracy for expressions of fear, and another finding no differences as a function of trait anxiety. As suggested by previous literature, the current study included eye movement measures to further investigate the processing of emotional expressions in anxious individuals. The current study also utilized four intensities of emotional expressions, a new addition to anxiety literature, as well as incorporated a measure of emotional dysregulation. The task consisted of a free viewing recognition task of expressions of the six basic emotions. Results from the current study revealed no accuracy or viewing time differences as a function of trait anxiety, however, a robust relationship was found between level of trait anxiety and emotional dysregulation. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.