AUTHOR=Carriere Jonathan S. A. , Nelson Andrea L. , Cheyne James Allan , Smilek Daniel 

TITLE=Influences of inattention on perceived self-efficacy, stress, and depression

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cognition

VOLUME=Volume 2 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cognition/articles/10.3389/fcogn.2023.1125197

DOI=10.3389/fcogn.2023.1125197

ISSN=2813-4532

ABSTRACT=Previous research provides indirect evidence that going through life mindlessly may produce feelings of depression, suggesting that cognitive deficits can lead both directly and indirectly to emotional problems (Carriere, Cheyne, & Smilek, 2008). Under this hypothesis, there are numerous possible routes from attention to affective issues, including through the sense of self-efficacy – a judgement about our ability to successfully achieve goals – and the experience of psychological stress. We used structural equation modeling to assess pathways from everyday inattentiveness, through the presumed intermediate experiences of diminished self-efficacy and psychological stress, to the experience of depressive affect. We tested several predictions: 1) the frequency of attention lapses predicts depressive affect; 2) attention-related errors mediate effects of inattention in predicting both self-efficacy and stress; 3) self-efficacy and stress directly influence depressive affect. The results indicate the proposed Attention-to-Affect models are parsimonious and provide good fit overall, consistent with the view that everyday inattention contributes to the emotional distress that creates depression.