Abstract
Attentional dysfunction is commonly found in depressed individuals in the form of impairment on measures of selective attention as well as attentional biases for negative information. Although a relationship between nonvalenced and valenced aspects of attention has been suggested based on theory, functional neuroanatomy, and studies in other populations, this relationship has not been explicitly explored in depressed individuals. A total of 91 individuals who were currently depressed, formerly depressed, or never depressed completed tasks assessing neuropsychological functioning and attentional bias. Depression status was associated with decreased selective attention (but not set shifting) and stronger attention biases. Selective attention was also found to mediate the relationship between group status and attentional bias, but only in currently depressed individuals. These findings suggest depression is associated with specific impairments in attention and moreover that impairments in nonvalenced aspects of attention are associated with attentional bias to valenced stimuli in currently depressed individuals.
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