ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the consequence of emotional problems. In contrast, attentional disorder may result from emotional disturbance. An essential question in conceptualising attentional processes in emotional dysfunction concerns whether or not these processes have a direct causal or a contributory role in dysfunction, or are merely a consequence or epiphenomenon of such dysfunction. The experimental, and in particular the longitudinal, studies reviewed provide empirical support for the view that attentional processes have an aetiological role on several levels in the development of emotional dysfunction and stress reactions. These levels are: the initiation of emotional problems; intensification of existing emotional reactions; and the maintenance of emotional problems. Clinical studies provide only patchy and inconsistent support for an aetiological role for cognitive processes. Studies of trait anxiety and neuroticism suggest that these dispositional variables have causal effects on stress vulnerability, although neuroticism seems to be reciprocally elevated by clinical states of distress.