Theory and empirical evidence suggest that those with higher posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and better attentional control (i.e., the strategic control of higher-order executive attention in regulating bottom-up, stimulus driven responses to prepotent stimuli; Sarapas et al., 2017) can use that ability to disengage and shift attention away from threat stimuli and reduce threat-related attentional dysregulation (i.e., avoidance/overcontrollers). Those with relatively worse attentional control lack the requisite resources to do this, leading to prolonged attentional engagement with threat stimuli and threat-related attention dysregulation (i.e., maintenance/undercontrollers). Given that attentional control is a limited resource, strategic avoidance of threat information or reduced threat-related attention dysregulation may not be possible among those with relatively higher attentional control when cognitive load is relatively high. To test this hypothesis, the interaction between PTS symptoms, attentional control, and cognitive load was examined as a predictor of threat-related attentional bias and threat-related attention bias variability. Participants (N = 125 undergraduate students) were randomly assigned to high or low load conditions. Participants completed self-report measures of PTS symptoms, a behavioral measure of attentional control, and a novel task that assessed threat-related attentional bias via eye movements and threat-related attention bias variability via button press. The results of a series of hierarchical regressions showed that attentional control moderated the relationship between PTS symptoms and threat-related attention bias variability in the low, but not high, load condition. This moderation effect was not observed for threat-related attentional bias assessed via eye-tracking. Consistent with theory, under conditions of higher cognitive load, overcontrollers may not be able to use attentional control to consistently regulate threat-related attention. Study findings suggest that it may be important to consider contextual factors that increase cognitive load, as well as individual differences in attentional control, when developing attention bias modification interventions to reduce PTS symptomatology.

理论和经验证据表明，那些具有较高的创伤后应激（PTS）症状和更好的注意力控制（即，在调节自下而上，刺激驱动的对特异刺激的反应中对高级行政人员进行注意力的战略控制; Sarapas等人，2017年） ）可以利用这种能力来使注意力脱离威胁刺激并转移注意力，并减少与威胁相关的注意力失调（即避免/过度控制）。注意力控制相对较差的人缺乏进行此操作所需的资源，从而导致注意力长期集中在威胁刺激和与威胁相关的注意力失调（即维护/控制不足）上。鉴于注意力控制是一种有限的资源，当认知负荷较高时，在注意力控制相对较高的人群中，可能无法策略性地避免威胁信息或减少与威胁相关的注意失调。为了验证这一假设，我们将PTS症状，注意控制和认知负荷之间的相互作用作为威胁相关注意偏见和威胁相关注意偏倚变异性的预测指标进行了检验。参加者（ñ= 125名本科生）被随机分配到高负荷或低负荷条件下。参与者完成了PTS症状的自我报告测量，注意控制的行为测量以及一项新颖的任务，该任务通过眼球运动评估了与威胁相关的注意偏见，并通过按下按钮评估了与威胁相关的注意偏见的变异性。一系列层次回归的结果表明，在低但不高负荷条件下，注意力控制减轻了PTS症状与威胁相关的注意力偏差变异之间的关系。对于通过眼动追踪评估的与威胁相关的注意偏见，未观察到这种调节作用。与理论一致，在较高的认知负荷条件下，过度控制者可能无法使用注意力控制来一致地调节与威胁相关的注意力。