Abstract
Conscious and preconscious processing of threatening information in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was studied using a masked modified Stroop paradigm. Twenty subjects who had been in motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and met criteria for PTSD were compared with 20 MVA non-PTSD and 20 non-MVA subjects. PTSD subjects, but not MVA or non-MVA subjects, demonstrated greater interference on threat words in both the masked and unmasked conditions. The results suggest that preferential processing of threat-related information in PTSD occurs at a preconscious stage of processing.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 613-623 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Cognitive Therapy and Research |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 6 |
Publication status | Published - Dec 1996 |
Keywords
- Anxiety
- Attention
- Information processing
- Posttraumatic stress disorder