Does stress exacerbate impairments in attentional control in trait impulsive individuals?

Abstract

Evidence suggests that impulsivity is characterised by impairments in attentional control, which is required to regulate stress levels. Given that elevated stress levels can impair attentional control as well, it was predicted that trait impulsivity and stress would interact. Whereby high stress levels would amplify the impairments to attentional control in high impulsive individuals, who are less able to regulate this stress. To test this, the levels of attentional capture and unintentional mind-wandering were assessed at different levels of stress and impulsivity. Unexpectedly, however, across 3 Studies (N = 108; 290; 157) there was no evidence supporting this amplification hypothesis. The findings instead revealed that stress and impulsivity were related to attenuated processing of target-matching external distractors, consistent with inattention (Study 1 & 3); and though they did significantly interact in Study 1, this was more reflective of the trait-impulsivity obscuring the additional influence of high stress on attention. Further, stress and impulsivity also independently predicted elevated unintentional mind-wandering without interacting, both when self-reported (Study 2) and when assessed during the attentional capture task (Study 3). The unexpected lack of interaction across multiple measures is discussed, and implications of the independent effects for existing models considered.