Evidence for the Absence of Attentional Biases Towards Stigma- and Disease-related Information in Atopic Dermatitis.

Abstract

Objective: The attentional hypothesis of psychological distress suggests that people with visible dermatological conditions may display an attentional preference for disease- or stigma-related cues. While this idea has been tested in psoriasis, the current work is the first to examine it in the context of atopic dermatitis.

Methods: We conducted four pre-registered online experiments in which individuals with atopic dermatitis (N=133) and matched healthy controls completed an emotional spatial cueing task. Reaction times to stigma- and disease-related threat words, compared with neutral words, were used as indicators of attentional bias.

Results: Across all four studies, participants with atopic dermatitis did not show enhanced attention toward threat-related stimuli. Frequentist analyses revealed no significant attentional bias differences between groups either at shorter stimulus onset asynchronies (300 ms, reflecting disengagement processes) or at longer ones (1300 ms, reflecting sustained attention under strategic control). Bayes Factors provided additional support for the null in three experiments (BF10<1/3) and inconclusive evidence in one (BF10=0.4).

Conclusions: Contrary to the attentional hypothesis, individuals with atopic dermatitis did not preferentially allocate attention to disease- or stigma-related cues. By combining preregistration, frequentist statistics, and Bayesian inference, this work provides robust evidence that is incompatible with the assumption of attentional hypervigilance in atopic dermatitis.