The Influence of Anxiety Level and Degree of Autonomic Dysfunction on the Selective Attention in the Emotional Stroop Test

In the experimental task of the emotional Stroop test, the influence of the level of trait and state anxiety and the degree of dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system on selective attention was assessed. A group of 49 healthy girls performed the task of determining the valence of facial expressions of anger, fear, disgust, and joy, complicated by the imposition of words on the images of faces, names of emotions congruent or incongruent to facial expressions. Based on the results of the questionnaires (Spielberger questionnaire, Wein questionnaire, and questionnaire of somatic manifestations of depression), using the method of cluster analysis, the subjects were divided into groups differing in (1) the level of anxiety and (2) the degree of autonomic dysfunction. It was shown that in groups of girls with increased anxiety and in groups with pronounced autonomic dysfunction, higher values of the Stroop effect are recorded compared to subjects with a low level of these characteristics. In this case, an increase in anxiety is associated with high values of interference in the Stroop test with the emotion of fear associated with the “self-defense system,” and an increase in autonomic dysfunction is associated with high values of interference in the Stroop test with the emotion of disgust associated with the “disease prevention” system.