Selective attention in adults with major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of task-specific differences and negative bias.
Several studies report that adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) present with a negative attentional bias compared to individuals without a history of MDD. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to: evaluate the hypothesis that selective attention differs in adults with MDD; deter...
| Publicado en: | Comprehensive Psychiatry Vol. 148 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
| Formato: | research systematic review Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier B.V.
Jun2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=194426972&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 194426972 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 0010440X L9O jtl: Comprehensive Psychiatry issn: 0010440X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 148 pid: 82545 pub: Elsevier B.V. place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania artinfo: ui: 194426972 194426972 194426972 10.1016/j.comppsych.2026.152720 194426972 ppct: 1 formats: tig: atl: Selective attention in adults with major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of task-specific differences and negative bias. aug: au: Hur, Jessica K. Ho, Natalie C.W. Maslej, Marta M. Andrews, Paul W. Butters, Meryl A. Milliken, Bruce Mulsant, Benoit H. affil: Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada sug: subj: Selective Attention In Adulthood Depression Task Performance and Analysis Human Systematic Review Meta Analysis Medline Psycinfo Embase Adult Adult: 19-44 years ab: Several studies report that adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) present with a negative attentional bias compared to individuals without a history of MDD. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to: evaluate the hypothesis that selective attention differs in adults with MDD; determine whether this difference consists of a negative attentional bias (e.g., paying more attention to negative stimuli); and assess whether it is more severe with more severe MDD. Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a literature search of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and EMBASE from inception through April 11, 2025, supplemented by manual searches, to identify published peer-reviewed manuscripts in English, French, or Korean comparing measures of selective attention in adults with MDD and non-psychiatric controls (HC). Results were synthesized narratively, and measures of selective attention in studies that used some versions of the Stroop task, or the dot-probe task were extracted and meta-analyzed. Of the 87 included studies, 73 (83.9%) showed a difference in selective attention (with 40 of 54 [74.1%] showing a negative bias) in adults with MDD compared to HC. Qualitatively, attention was impaired in the MDD group compared to HCs with all tasks. However, a significant difference in attention and negative bias was observed only with the dot-probe task in quantitative synthesis. Given the small number of relevant studies, power to identify moderators was limited. Age significantly moderated negative attentional bias for the dot-probe task, which increased with age. Future larger, higher-powered studies are needed to confirm selective attention differences in MDD and identify additional moderators. • Synthesizes findings from 87 studies on selective attention in depression. • Depressed adults show consistent attention impairments and negative bias. • Negative bias appears in dot-probe but not in Stroop tasks. • Age moderates negative attentional bias in the dot-probe task, with negative attentional bias increasing with older age. • Discusses an evolutionary perspective: selective attention differences may be adaptive. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: meta analysis research systematic review Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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