Abstract
Body surveillance and body image present challenges towards attentional control leading to attention bias measured using modified Stroop colour-naming tasks. When athletes’ mental resources are directed to body-related concerns, the capacity to focus on performance is limited, contributing to attention bias towards body-related stimuli in sport. Research also suggests body-related authentic pride as a facilitator of better performance in sport, suggesting that positive body-related emotions may be beneficially related to attention bias. In this study, body surveillance and attention bias were tested using a modified Stroop task with colour, sport, and body conditions among a sample of athletes (N = 97, 60.8% cisgender women, 46.4% White, 45.4% competing in lean-focused sports). Body-related emotions (i.e., authentic and hubristic pride, shame, guilt) and disordered eating were explored as potential mediators in the association between body surveillance and attention bias. Greater guilt (p = .031) and disordered eating (p = .025) were correlated with poorer accuracy in the body condition. A path model exploring body surveillance as a predictor of attention bias with body image mediators demonstrated direct effects of body surveillance on guilt (p < .001), shame (p < .001), and disordered eating (p < .001) as well as a direct effect of disordered eating (p = .046) on accuracy in the colour condition. The findings speak to the complex relationships between body surveillance and body image with attention bias among athletes and highlight the importance of athletes maintaining more positive body image to likely facilitate stronger control over attention.
