Attention Bias and Recognition of Sexual Images in Depression

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 18; no. 16; p. 8880
• Main Authors: Novák, Ondřej, Bártová, Klára, Klapilová, Kateřina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 23.08.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Attention task; Bias; Erectile dysfunction; Information processing; Memory; Mental depression; Sexuality
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18168880

Depression greatly affects sexuality. Theoretical and empirical evidence account for the existence of attention bias to sex-related stimuli. This attention bias might be impaired in depression, resulting in sexual problems. A sample of 13 patients with depression and 13 matched healthy controls were tested using the dot-probe and picture recognition task to measure attention to erotic images. No difference in attention to sex-related stimuli (ω2 = 0, p = 0.22) and in memory bias (ω2 = 0, p = 0.72) was found between the two groups. Explorative analyses were conducted to identify the sexual content-induced delay effect in the data, assess variability differences, and compare trial-level bias score-based indexes between groups. Across all analyses, there was little evidence for depression affecting sexual-related cognitive processing, and even this might be explained by other means. Our results suggest that restrained attention is probably not the main factor behind sexual problems in depression.