Performance in a blocked versus randomized emotional Stroop task in an aged, early traumatized group with and without posttraumatic stress symptoms

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Attentional biases (AB) for trauma-related stimuli have been examined in many studies assessing different trauma samples. In emotional Stroop tasks (EST), blocked and single-trial formats are used almost interchangeably in clinical research. There is reason to believe that different designs yield different results and assess different processes, which, however, has been hardly examined in studies. Furthermore, there is a dearth of information about AB in older trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress symptoms.

METHODS: Older adults with (n = 20) and without PTSD symptoms (n = 26) as well as non-traumatized controls (n = 21) completed an EST, in which words were presented both blocked and randomized.

RESULTS: Analyses revealed that individuals with PTSD symptoms showed AB for trauma- and depression-related words; however, mode of administration did not significantly influence reaction times.

LIMITATIONS: The emotional Stroop task cannot disentangle the underlying cognitive mechanism (i.e., facilitation, interference, avoidance).

CONCLUSIONS: PTSD symptoms in older trauma survivors are associated with AB. Overall, participants with PTSD symptoms did not show greater impairment of cognitive control in comparison to both control groups. Results also illustrate that methodological differences between task versions need to be considered more thoroughly.