Emotional Stroop interference for depression-related stimuli in a United Arab Emirates student population

A bilingual Arabic-speaking student population performed an emotional Stroop task designed to assess the interference effects of depressive stimuli. The aim was to replicate the findings of previous studies with English-speaking participants in which slower color-naming responses were reported for depression-related stimuli, with speed negatively correlated with increasing levels of depressive symptomatology. We used repeated measures design measuring any slowing of naming for the emotional words, while Pearson’s r was used to explore the relationship between emotional Stroop performance decrease and extent of depressive symptoms. University students (N = 261) completed a computerized, Arabic-language version of the emotional Stroop task, along with a questionnaire (the Beck Depression Inventory) measure of depressive symptoms. The response time differential for depression related (RT depressive – RT normal), but not neutral (RT neutral – RT normal), words were positively correlated with depressive symptom scores. The findings were consistent with studies reporting mood-congruent information processing biases in English-speaking populations. The emotional Stroop task may prove useful as a culturally-neutral adjunct in the implicit assessment of depressive symptoms or vulnerabilities.