Colin MacLeod’s research while affiliated with University of Western Australia and other places

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Publications (215)


Visual example of video clip presentation
Interface presented to participants for the Interview Challenge. Note. The red arrow signifies the order of presentation (question, preparation, answer)
Overview of the design of the lab-based experimental session, including state anxiety assessment points
The Role of Information Processing as an Underlying Mechanism in the Experience of Anxiety Reactivity and Anxiety Perseveration, Two Dissociable Dimensions of Trait Anxiety
  • Article
  • Full-text available

January 2025

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48 Reads

Cognitive Therapy and Research

Sophia Moore

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Purpose While long considered a unitary dimension, research has moved towards a multidimensional understanding of trait anxiety, and has identified two dissociable dimensions of trait anxiety: anxiety reactivity and anxiety perseveration. Despite the consolidation of this understanding over the past decade, the mechanisms underlying these two dimensions are not well established. The present study examined the novel role of information processing in the experience of anxiety reactivity and perseveration, specifically, how enhanced processing of situational information influences reactivity, and how enhanced processing of implicational information influences perseveration. Method Undergraduate university students (N = 142) were exposed to an interview-based stressor. As participants approached this stressor, they were provided with information reflecting one of the two content categories, intended to encourage a situational or implicational processing mode. Anxiety reactivity and anxiety perseveration were measured by assessing changes in state anxiety (measured using a single item visual analogue state anxiety measure) in the lead up and wake of this stressor. Results Mixed-design ANOVAs did not reveal a significant relationship between enhanced processing of situational information and anxiety reactivity, nor between enhanced processing of implicational information and anxiety perseveration. An experimental manipulation involving valence revealed that receiving positive information reduced the intensity of state anxiety elevations in the aftermath of the information processing task. Conclusions Findings are discussed with reference to limitations and future extensions that could investigate the potential role of cognitive biases in this proposed relationship between enhanced information processing and anxiety reactivity and perseveration.

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Illustration of study procedure
Illustration of the estimated marginal means of the three-way interaction effect, comprising AAT Avoidance Index scores for each image type, assessment time, and manipulation condition, when controlling for FSQ and FBQ questionnaire scores
Illustration estimated marginal means of anxiety responses, for each manipulation condition, measured prior to each step toward the spider, when controlling for FSQ questionnaire scores
The attenuation of spider avoidance action tendencies in spider-fearful individuals and its impact on behavioural and emotional responding to spiders

January 2025

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7 Reads

Motivation and Emotion

Studies using the Approach/Avoidance Task (AAT) paradigm have demonstrated that individuals with heightened levels of spider-fear, as compared to lower levels of spider-fear, are characterised by biased action tendencies, indicated by speeded completion of movements that increase apparent distance between spider-stimuli and themselves (push movements), compared to movements that decrease apparent distance between spider-stimuli and themselves (pull response). Research using training variants of the AAT has also demonstrated that this pattern of action tendencies can be attenuated amongst individuals with heightened spider-fear. However, the effect of this manipulation on behaviour and emotion in the presence of a spider has not been examined. Eighty-eight participants who reported relatively high levels of spider-fear completed a procedure designed to either attenuate avoidance action tendencies for spider stimuli (Approach Spider Condition) or have no impact on action tendencies for spider stimuli (Control Condition). Action tendencies were assessed before and after the manipulation. Participants then completed a Behavioural Approach Task that recorded the number of steps voluntarily taken toward a spider and level of self-reported anxiety at each step. Analyses revealed that avoidance action tendencies to spider stimuli were attenuated in the Approach Spider Condition as compared to the Control Condition following the experimental manipulation, as intended. However, participants in each condition did not differ in behavioural or emotional measures recorded during the approach task. These findings replicate research indicating avoidance action tendencies to spider stimuli can be manipulated amongst individuals with heightened spider-fear, though suggest that their manipulation may not influence ‘real world’ behavioural or emotional responding to spiders.


The Contributions of Attentional Bias and Expectancy Bias to Fluctuations in State Anxiety

December 2024

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22 Reads

Cognitive Therapy and Research

Background Individuals differ in the degree to which they experience elevations in state anxiety in response to anticipated potentially stressful events, which may be explained by variance in the way information relevant to those stressors is processed. The present study aimed to test the validity of the hypothesis that the attentional processing of negative event-related information will be positively associated with changes in event-related negative expectancy bias, which in turn will be positively associated with elevations in state anxiety. Method Using a variant of the dual probe task, participants were asked to report their state anxiety and negative expectancy bias at multiple points and were presented with information relevant to a specific anticipated potentially stressful event from which a measure of attentional bias was obtained. Results The results indicated a case of complete mediation, whereby changes in event-related negative expectancy bias fully mediated the relationship between attentional bias to negative event-related information and elevations in state anxiety. Conclusions This finding adds to our understanding of how the biased processing of information can explain fluctuations in state anxiety and invites research into alternative presentations of biased information processing.


From Information to Worry: How Selective Interrogation of Information Shapes Expectancies in the Prenatal Period

November 2024

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36 Reads

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1 Citation

Cognitive Therapy and Research

The current study examined the association between elevated prenatal worry and negative expectancies about parenthood and the potential cognitive mechanisms driving such expectancies. Two main hypotheses were examined: First, that negative expectancies about parenthood contribute to elevated prenatal worry, and second, negative selective interrogation of information about parenthood contributes to the formation of more negative expectancies about parenthood. The study recruited 92 first-time pregnant women and evaluated their prenatal worry, parenthood expectancies, and tendency to volitionally choose negative rather than positive information about parenthood (i.e., demonstrate a negative interrogation bias). Our findings revealed a significant association between negative expectancies about parenthood and elevated prenatal worry. Additionally, those with a negative interrogation bias were more likely to hold negative expectancies concerning parenthood. The relationship between this bias and prenatal worry was mediated by negative expectancies. Findings are discussed with regards to limitations and potential implications for expectancy-focused interventions for prenatal worry.


Figure 1. Diagram of serial mediation analysis of IU-general on health anxiety through IU-health and worry. * p < .01, ** p < .001. Note: Unstandardized OLS regression path coefficients are shown. c is total effect of IU-general on health anxiety that does not consider mediators while c' is direct effect model with mediators included.
From Intolerance of Uncertainty to Health Anxiety: the Mediating Role of Worry

September 2024

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147 Reads

Journal of Emotion and Psychopathology

Background: Cognitive theories of health anxiety emphasize the critical importance of general Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU-general) in the development and maintenance of health anxiety. There is, however, a dearth of research on the mechanisms through which IU-general leads to health anxiety. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that intolerance of uncertainty specific to health (IU-health) and worry may sequentially mediate the association between IU-general and health anxiety. Methods: Three hundred and fifty-eight students completed a battery of questionnaire including measures of health anxiety, IU-general, IU-health, and worry. Results: Consistent with predictions generated by the hypothesis under test, a serial mediation model confirmed that the association between IU-general and health anxiety was mediated by IU-health (first mediator) and worry (second mediator). Conclusions: The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions were offered concerning how future research could serve to discriminate alternative causal accounts of the presently observed associations. Limitations: Due to the cross-sectional design of the study, causal inferences cannot be made. Additionally, as the sample was non-clinical, the generalizability of the results to clinical populations may be limited.


The role of acute stress recovery in emotional resilience

August 2024

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67 Reads

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1 Citation

Background Resilience refers to the process of demonstrating better outcomes than would be expected based on the adversity one experienced. Resilience is increasingly measured using a residual approach, which typically assesses adversity and mental health outcomes over a longitudinal timeframe. It remains unknown to what extent such a residual-based measurement of resilience is sensitive to variation in acute stress resilience, a candidate resilience factor. Methods Fifty-seven emerging adults enrolled in tertiary education completed measures of adversity and emotional experiences. To assess stress recovery, participants were exposed to a lab-based adverse event from which a Laboratory Stress Resilience Index was derived. Results We derived a residual-based measure of emotional resilience from regressing emotional experience scores onto adversity scores. This residual-based measure of emotional resilience predicted variance in the Laboratory Stress Resilience Index over and above that predicted by both a traditional resilience measure and the emotional experiences measure. These findings suggest that acute stress resilience may be a factor underpinning variation in emotional resilience, and that the residual-based approach to measuring resilience is sensitive to such variation in stress resilience.


Figure 1
The role of information processing as an underlying mechanism in the experience of anxiety reactivity and anxiety perseveration; two dissociable dimension of trait anxiety.

August 2024

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45 Reads

Purpose While long considered a unitary dimension, research has moved towards a multidimensional understanding of trait anxiety. Most relevant to this study, is the conceptualisation of two dissociable dimensions of trait anxiety; anxiety reactivity and anxiety perseveration. Despite the consolidation of this understanding over the past decade, the mechanisms underlying these two dimensions are not well established. The present study examined the novel role of information processing in the experience of anxiety reactivity and perseveration, specifically, how enhanced processing of situational information influences reactivity, and how enhanced processing of implicational information influences perseveration. Method Undergraduate university students (N = 142) completed an experimental session, where they encountered an interview-based stressor. As participants approached this stressor, they were provided with information reflecting one of the two content categories, intended to encourage a situational or implicational processing mode. To facilitate measurement of anxiety reactivity and anxiety perseveration, state anxiety was assessed at crucial junctures across the experimental session. Results Our findings did not provide evidence for the role of enhanced processing of situational information in the experience of anxiety reactivity, nor the role of enhanced processing of implicational information in the experience of anxiety perseveration. An experimental manipulation involving valence revealed that receiving positive information reduced the intensity of state anxiety elevations, in the aftermath of the information processing task. Conclusions Findings are discussed with reference to limitations and future extensions that could investigate the potential role of cognitive biases in this proposed relationship between enhanced information processing and anxiety reactivity and perseveration.





Citations (70)


... While research has not yet investigated the role of selective interrogation biases in SSB consumption, recent research provides support for the role of selective interrogation biases in the emotion domain. Specifically, the tendency to selectively interrogate more negative information than positive information about upcoming events has been implicated in both anxiety (Reynolds et al., 2024) and prenatal worry (Mazidi et al., 2023). Thus, it is plausible to propose that selective interrogation of taste-based, rather than health-based, characteristics of beverages is associated with greater SSB consumption. ...

Reference:

The role of cognitive biases involving selective interrogation of taste-based information in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption
From Information to Worry: How Selective Interrogation of Information Shapes Expectancies in the Prenatal Period

Cognitive Therapy and Research

... The validity of this approach is evidenced by many studies which have shown that residual-based resilience measures are associated with hypothesized risk and protective factors in ways that are consistent with theory and prior empirical findings (Booth et al., 2020;Borman & Overman, 2004;Bowes et al., 2010;Cahill et al., 2022;Kim-Cohen et al., 2004;Miller-Lewis et al., 2013). This approach has previously been used to successfully identify predictors of resilience (Bögemann et al., 2023;Notebaert et al., 2024Notebaert et al., , 2025Veer et al., 2021) including psychosocial and genetic predictors of resilience in longitudinal designs (Amstadter et al., 2014;van Harmelen et al., 2017). ...

The role of acute stress recovery in emotional resilience
  • Citing Article
  • August 2024

... Such interpretations can be experimentally perturbed using a Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretations (CBM-I) training paradigm (Mathews & Mackintosh, 2000;Salemink et al., 2023). When CBM-I is delivered across multiple sessions, this training can achieve lasting reductions of negative interpretations and anxiety (Fodor et al., 2020;Jones & Sharpe, 2017), which is why this training has been suggested as a potential stand-alone intervention or augmentation to CBT (Beard et al., 2019;Vrijsen et al., 2024). In Mobach et al. (2023), just one brief CBM-I training session was provided to serve as an experimental perturbation to temporarily 'disturb' an individual's negative interpretation bias into a positive direction. ...

Towards implementation of cognitive bias modification in mental health care: State of the science, best practices, and ways forward

Behaviour Research and Therapy

... The tendency to selectively interrogate one type of information over another type of information has recently been conceptualised as a selective interrogation bias (Reynolds et al., 2024). While research has not yet investigated the role of selective interrogation biases in SSB consumption, recent research provides support for the role of selective interrogation biases in the emotion domain. ...

The role of expectancies and selective interrogation of information in trait anxiety-linked affect when approaching potentially stressful future events
  • Citing Article
  • May 2024

Behaviour Research and Therapy

... While majority of research has focused on the role of food-related attentional biases, overall, there is a lack of a reliable relationship between attentional biases and restrictive eating (Watson & Le Pelley, 2021). Consequently, researchers have shifted focus to other types of cognitive biases, such as food categorisation biases (Dondzilo et al., 2024). Food categorisation biases refer to the tendency to categorise food items in terms of one particular dimension (e.g., caloric content) rather than in terms of alternative dimensions (e.g., tastiness). ...

Cognitive biases involving readiness to categorise food in terms of calorie content in anorexia nervosa

Cognitive Therapy and Research

... Social anxiety disorder (SAD) can have a significant negative impact on students' social functioning if they have experienced trauma in the past. Symptoms of SAD include overwhelming feelings of guilt, shame, and self-blame that frequently accompany experiences, which can exacerbate depressive symptoms and further contribute to social withdrawal and isolation [5,6] found that after a traumatic incident, people with heightened social anxiety vulnerability report higher levels of negative thinking about the event. This negative thinking is linked to the maintenance of social anxiety vulnerability [1] emphasises the need of attending to the particular requirements of students who have experienced trauma by highlighting the necessity of continuous therapy and strong social support for those with PTSD. ...

The legacy of social anxiety-linked negative expectancy: A pathway from pre-event negative expectancies to post-event negative thinking

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry

... That is because anxiety individuals have been found to exhibit selective processing of threatening stimuli. Specifically, it may be related to selective attention and selective memory of threat stimuli [1][2][3][4]. ...

Examining the role of trait anxiety and attentional bias to negative information in intrusion vulnerability following an emotionally negative event

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry

... Namely, there is currently no empirical investigation of the presence of food-related categorisation biases (also referred to in the literature as 'judgement biases') in AN. Categorisation biases specifically refer to the tendency to categorise a stimulus (e.g., a food item) in terms of one particular dimension (e.g., calorie content) rather than in terms of alternative dimensions (e.g., tastiness) and have recently been implicated in broader body image and eating pathology (Dietel et al., 2023;Dondzilo et al., 2021Dondzilo et al., , 2022Shao et al., 2023). There is also some evidence that categorisation biases may in turn influence other biases, such as behavioural approach tendencies (Mergelsberg et al., 2019;Rudaizky et al., 2020). ...

Association Between Judgment Biases During Facial Processing and Body Dysmorphic Symptomatology

Cognitive Therapy and Research

... To our knowledge, a recent study from our lab has been the only study to directly test the mediation hypothesis. Ji and MacLeod (2023) used a controlled reward activity behavioural choice paradigm where participants choose whether or not to engage in a chance-based activity (flipping coins) that could result in objectively good or bad outcomes (win or lose money for charity). The study assessed both expectations concerning the likelihood of win vs. lose outcomes, as well as the anticipated emotional impact of such outcomes if it had occurred. ...

Investigating the role of action-contingent expectancy biases in dysphoria-linked activity engagement behavioural choice

Behaviour Research and Therapy

... Previous study showed that the higher the level of social anxiety, the more attentional bias college students showed to negative emotional information [34]. The meta-analysis on attentional bias and anxiety disorders and found that participants in the anxiety group had greater attentional bias [15]. ...

The Contribution of Attentional Bias to Negative Information to Social Anxiety-Linked Heightened State Anxiety During a Social Event

Cognitive Therapy and Research