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Article
Emotional stroop interference for depressionrelated stimuli in a United Arab Emirates student population
Social Behavior and Personality
  • Justin Thomas, Zayed University
  • Carol Campbell, Zayed University
  • Belkeis Altareb, Zayed University
  • Ahmed Yousif, Zayed University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-17-2010
Abstract

A bilingual Arabic-speaking student population performed an emotional Stroop task designed to assess the interference effects of depressive stimuli. The aim was to replicate the findings of previous studies with English-speaking participants in which slower color-naming responses were reported for depression-related stimuli, with speed negatively correlated with increasing levels of depressive symptomatology. We used repeated measures design measuring any slowing of naming for the emotional words, while Pearson's r was used to explore the relationship between emotional Stroop performance decrease and extent of depressive symptoms. University students (N = 261) completed a computerized, Arabic-language version of the emotional Stroop task, along with a questionnaire (the Beck Depression Inventory) measure of depressive symptoms. The response time differential for depression related (RT depressive - RT normal), but not neutral (RT neutral - RT normal), words were positively correlated with depressive symptom scores. The findings were consistent with studies reporting mood-congruent information processing biases in English-speaking populations. The emotional Stroop task may prove useful as a culturally-neutral adjunct in the implicit assessment of depressive symptoms or vulnerabilities. © Society for Personality Research (Inc.).

Publisher
Scientific Journal Publishers
Disciplines
Keywords
  • Color identification,
  • Depression-related stimuli,
  • Emotional stroop task,
  • United Arab Emirates
Scopus ID
77953463255
Indexed in Scopus
Yes
Open Access
No
https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2010.38.5.597
Citation Information
Justin Thomas, Carol Campbell, Belkeis Altareb and Ahmed Yousif. "Emotional stroop interference for depressionrelated stimuli in a United Arab Emirates student population" Social Behavior and Personality Vol. 38 Iss. 5 (2010) p. 597 - 604 ISSN: <a href="https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/0301-2212" target="_blank">0301-2212</a>
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/justin-thomas28211/35/