Visual attention to threat during stove-checking in people high in checking behaviour

Abstract

Leading models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) state that hypervigilance to threat is a factor in compulsion persistence; however, previous research on attention deployment in OCD is mixed. The current study examines the hypothesized role of strategic avoidance and situational goals through exploring the relationships between visual attention, self-rated need to avoid and need to attend, and post-check certainty. Individuals low (LCC, n = 30) and high (HCC, n = 29) in checking concerns completed a stove-checking task with a real stove surrounded by threat and neutral items. Eye movements were tracked with a portable eye tracker and participants self-reported their need to attend to and avoid attending to items, as well as their post-check certainty. Although the HCC group reported greater need to avoid attending to threat, visual attention to threat did not differ between groups. Greater visual attention to threat predicted lower post-check certainty in the HCC group, but not the LCC group, and need to avoid threat was not associated with post-check certainty. People high in checking concerns may wish to avoid attending to threat, but have limited success in doing so, and the more they look at threat the less confident they feel. Implications for OCD treatment are discussed.