Negative Affectivity Moderates the Relationship between Attentional Control and Focused Skin Picking

Katarzyna Prochwicz, Rachela Antosz-Rekucka, Alina Kałużna-Wielobób, Dominika Sznajder and Joanna Kłosowska
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Katarzyna Prochwicz: Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, ul. Ingardena 6, 30-060 Kraków, Poland
Rachela Antosz-Rekucka: Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, ul. Ingardena 6, 30-060 Kraków, Poland
Alina Kałużna-Wielobób: Institute of Psychology, Pedagogical University, ul. Podchorążych 2, 30-084 Kraków, Poland
Dominika Sznajder: Institute of Psychology, Pedagogical University, ul. Podchorążych 2, 30-084 Kraków, Poland
Joanna Kłosowska: Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, ul. Ingardena 6, 30-060 Kraków, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: Very little is known about the cognitive functioning of people with body-focused repetitive behaviours and the few existing studies provide mixed findings. The aim of this study was to investigate the interplay between attentional control, negative affectivity, and focused skin picking. We hypothesized that the control of attention is associated with focused style of skin picking and that this relationship is moderated by negative affectivity. The final sample consisted of 273 non-clinical subjects (79% women) aged 18 to 54 years; study variables were assessed using questionnaires. Moderation analysis was conducted, followed by a simple slope analysis, and the Johnson–Neyman technique was used to probe the interaction effect. We found that at the low level of negative affectivity, the relationship between attentional control and focused skin picking is negative, but not at the higher levels of this trait. Interestingly, when negative affectivity reaches very high intensity, the association between attentional control and skin picking becomes positive. This relationship seems to be quite complex and may depend on the way that cognitive abilities are used by the individual, as well as on the stage of cognitive processing that they are applied to. Further studies using behavioural measures of attention are needed to better understand this issue.

Keywords: focused skin picking; attentional control; negative affectivity; moderation analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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