Life is … great! Emotional attention during instructed and uninstructed ambiguity resolution in relation to depressive symptoms

• Relations among depressive symptom severity, attention and interpretation biases were examined under tendency and ability processing conditions.
• Attention biases were measured online via eye tracking in tendency and ability versions of an interpretation task.
• Depression-linked attention biases emerged under both processing tendency and ability conditions.
• Attention biases acted as an intervening variable in the relation between depressive symptom severity and interpretation biases under ability conditions.
• Ability-related attention biases may regulate how individuals elaborate on new emotional information.

Attention and interpretation biases are closely involved in depression. However, it is unclear whether they reflect processing tendencies (i.e., driven by schemas) and/or ability-related processes (i.e., dependent on attentional control). This study tested depressive symptom severity, attention bias, and interpretation bias associations under both processing conditions. Fifty-two participants completed two versions of the scrambled sentences test (to measure interpretation bias) while eye movements were recorded (to measure attention bias). Participants were instructed to unscramble sentences by reporting the first sentence coming to mind (tendency version) and in a fixed, positive manner (ability version). Depressive symptom severity was correlated with attention bias under both conditions. Attention bias acted as an intervening variable in the relation between depressive symptoms and interpretation bias during ability processes. These findings suggest that attention biases reflect both processing tendencies and ability dysfunctions, with attentional control as a relevant mechanism in the interpretation of emotional material.