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    Rights statement: Copyright © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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Heavy cannabis use and attentional avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Heavy cannabis use and attentional avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli. / Wilcockson, Thomas; Sanal, Nilihan.
In: Addictive Behaviors Reports, Vol. 3, 06.2016, p. 38-42.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Wilcockson, T & Sanal, N 2016, 'Heavy cannabis use and attentional avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli', Addictive Behaviors Reports, vol. 3, pp. 38-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2016.02.004

APA

Wilcockson, T., & Sanal, N. (2016). Heavy cannabis use and attentional avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 3, 38-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2016.02.004

Vancouver

Wilcockson T, Sanal N. Heavy cannabis use and attentional avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli. Addictive Behaviors Reports. 2016 Jun;3:38-42. Epub 2016 Mar 2. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2016.02.004

Author

Wilcockson, Thomas ; Sanal, Nilihan. / Heavy cannabis use and attentional avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli. In: Addictive Behaviors Reports. 2016 ; Vol. 3. pp. 38-42.

Bibtex

@article{99f438ab27774f8abe8a37ce010c09fd,
title = "Heavy cannabis use and attentional avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli",
abstract = "ObjectivesCannabis is now the most widely used illicit substance in the world. Previous research demonstrates that cannabis use is associated with dysfunctional affect regulation and anxiety. Anxiety is characterised by attentional biases in the presence of emotional information. This novel study therefore examined the attentional bias of cannabis users when presented with anxiety-related stimuli. The aim was to establish whether cannabis users respond to anxiety-related stimuli differently to control participants.MethodsA dot-probe paradigm was utilised using 40 undergraduate students. Trials contained anxiety-related stimuli and neutral control stimuli. Eye-tracking was used to measure attention for the stimuli.ResultsResults indicated that cannabis users demonstrated attentional-avoidance behaviour when presented with anxiety-related stimuli.ConclusionsThe findings suggest a difference in processing of emotional information in relation to neutral information between groups. It would appear that cannabis users avoid anxiety provoking stimuli. Such behaviour could potentially have motivational properties that could lead to exacerbating anxiety disorder-type behaviour.",
keywords = "Attentional bias, anxiety, cannabis",
author = "Thomas Wilcockson and Nilihan Sanal",
year = "2016",
month = jun,
doi = "10.1016/j.abrep.2016.02.004",
language = "English",
volume = "3",
pages = "38--42",
journal = "Addictive Behaviors Reports",
issn = "2352-8532",
publisher = "Elsevier Limited",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Heavy cannabis use and attentional avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli

AU - Wilcockson, Thomas

AU - Sanal, Nilihan

PY - 2016/6

Y1 - 2016/6

N2 - ObjectivesCannabis is now the most widely used illicit substance in the world. Previous research demonstrates that cannabis use is associated with dysfunctional affect regulation and anxiety. Anxiety is characterised by attentional biases in the presence of emotional information. This novel study therefore examined the attentional bias of cannabis users when presented with anxiety-related stimuli. The aim was to establish whether cannabis users respond to anxiety-related stimuli differently to control participants.MethodsA dot-probe paradigm was utilised using 40 undergraduate students. Trials contained anxiety-related stimuli and neutral control stimuli. Eye-tracking was used to measure attention for the stimuli.ResultsResults indicated that cannabis users demonstrated attentional-avoidance behaviour when presented with anxiety-related stimuli.ConclusionsThe findings suggest a difference in processing of emotional information in relation to neutral information between groups. It would appear that cannabis users avoid anxiety provoking stimuli. Such behaviour could potentially have motivational properties that could lead to exacerbating anxiety disorder-type behaviour.

AB - ObjectivesCannabis is now the most widely used illicit substance in the world. Previous research demonstrates that cannabis use is associated with dysfunctional affect regulation and anxiety. Anxiety is characterised by attentional biases in the presence of emotional information. This novel study therefore examined the attentional bias of cannabis users when presented with anxiety-related stimuli. The aim was to establish whether cannabis users respond to anxiety-related stimuli differently to control participants.MethodsA dot-probe paradigm was utilised using 40 undergraduate students. Trials contained anxiety-related stimuli and neutral control stimuli. Eye-tracking was used to measure attention for the stimuli.ResultsResults indicated that cannabis users demonstrated attentional-avoidance behaviour when presented with anxiety-related stimuli.ConclusionsThe findings suggest a difference in processing of emotional information in relation to neutral information between groups. It would appear that cannabis users avoid anxiety provoking stimuli. Such behaviour could potentially have motivational properties that could lead to exacerbating anxiety disorder-type behaviour.

KW - Attentional bias

KW - anxiety

KW - cannabis

U2 - 10.1016/j.abrep.2016.02.004

DO - 10.1016/j.abrep.2016.02.004

M3 - Journal article

VL - 3

SP - 38

EP - 42

JO - Addictive Behaviors Reports

JF - Addictive Behaviors Reports

SN - 2352-8532

ER -