Loneliness affects attentional bias in relationship-preoccupied individuals with a history of dating violence revictimization

초록

This study used visual attention characteristics to investigate the motivation to approach relationships and the influence of loneliness among individuals with high levels of relationship preoccupation and experience of dating violence revictimization. We divided 82 participants into four groups based on their level of relationship preoccupation and history of dating violence revictimization. Respondents completed a loneliness-inducing writing task followed by a free-viewing task using conflictual, intimate, and neutral relationship stimuli, during which we recorded their eye movements to assess initial fixation latency and total fixation duration. Results showed that after the induction of loneliness, individuals with a history of dating violence revictimization and high levels of relationship preoccupation exhibited an attentional bias toward stimuli depicting intimate relationships compared with conflictual or neutral stimuli. This highlights the need for trauma-informed public mental health strategies that address loneliness and emotional vulnerabilities to help prevent dating violence revictimization.

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