본 연구의 목적은 불안한 사람들의 위협에 대한 주의-시간과정에 미치는 짧은 마음챙김 유도의 효과를 알아보는 것이다. 이를 위해 본 연구에서는 참가자들을 두 개의 집단(마음챙김, 통제) 중 한 집단에 무선할당 하였으며, 각 집단에 배정된 참가자들은 간단한 처치를 마치고 난 후에 탐침탐사과제를 실시하였다. 주의의 시간과정을 고려하여 탐침탐사과제의 자극제시시간을 450ms와 1250ms로 조정하였으며, 각 집단 별로 특질불안 수준이 높은 상위 50퍼센트 참가자들의 수행을 결과 분석에 사용하였다. 집단 간 비교 결과, 자극제시시간에 관계없이 통제집단은 마음챙김 집단보다 위협에 더 많은 주의를 기울인다는 것을 확인하였다. 집단 별 주의편향의 질적인 변화양상을 구체적으로 살펴본 결과, 통제집단은 자극이 짧게 제시되는 경우에는(450ms) 위협에 대한 경계편향을 보인 반면, 자극이 길게 제시되는 경우에는(1250ms) 주의편향을 보이지 않았다. 한편, 마음챙김 집단은 자극제시시간에 관계없이 주의편향을 보이지 않았다. 이 결과들은 기존의 경계-회피가설을 지지하는 동시에, 짧은 마음챙김 유도가 주의편향을 감소시킨다는 것을 보여준다. 마지막으로 본 연구의 한계점과 후속 연구를 위한 제언이 논의되었다.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of brief mindfulness induction on time-course of attention to threat seen by anxious people. To do this, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups (mindfulness, control), and performed dot-probe task after completing a brief treatment session. Considering the time-course of attention, the stimulus-presentation time of dot-probe task was adjusted to 450ms and 1250ms, and the performance of the top 50 percent participants with high level of trait anxiety was used for the analysis of results. As a result of between-group comparison, control group was found to pay more attention to the threat than mindfulness group regardless of the stimulus-presentation time. Examining the qualitative change patterns of attention bias in groups showed that control group had an attentional bias toward the threat when the stimulus was presented shortly (450 ms), but had no bias when the stimulus was long (1250 ms). On the other hand, mindfulness group showed no bias of attention regardless of the stimulus-presentation time. These results verified vigilance-avoidance hypothesis and brief mindfulness induction reduced attentional bias. Finally, limitations of this study and implications for future research were discussed.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of brief mindfulness induction on time-course of attention to threat seen by anxious people. To do this, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups (mindfulness, control), and performed dot-probe task after completing a brief treatment session. Considering the time-course of attention, the stimulus-presentation time of dot-probe task was adjusted to 450ms and 1250ms, and the performance of the top 50 percent participants with high level of trait anxiety was used for the analysis of results. As a result of between-group comparison, control group was found to pay more attention to the threat than mindfulness group regardless of the stimulus-presentation time. Examining the qualitative change patterns of attention bias in groups showed that control group had an attentional bias toward the threat when the stimulus was presented shortly (450 ms), but had no bias when the stimulus was long (1250 ms). On the other hand, mindfulness group showed no bias of attention regardless of the stimulus-presentation time. These results verified vigilance-avoidance hypothesis and brief mindfulness induction reduced attentional bias. Finally, limitations of this study and implications for future research were discussed.
