Funded by the 2023 ‘Post-Doctoral’ Research Programme at the Cyprus University of Technology, the Un-Bias Project addresses illness anxiety which is a prevalent concern affecting many people.

Individuals with illness anxiety often exhibit attentional biases towards health-threatening information, which can sustain or worsen anxiety symptoms. However, evidence on illness anxiety-related attentional biases is limited and often derived from studies lacking rigorous and reliable experimental designs.

The Un-Bias Project aims to overcome these limitations by employing an eye-tarcking methodology to examine the mechanisms underlying attentional biases towards health-threatening information in individuals with elevated illness anxiety symptoms. Additionally, the project will investigate the impact of co-occurring affective and emotional dimensions, including state and trait anxiety.

The findings of this project will guide future research in clinical populations, raise public awareness, and inform healthcare providers on enhancing diagnostic criteria and developing targeted interventions for illness anxiety.

The Un-Bias project is hosted at the Department of Nursing (BSiH Lab) and supported by the Brain and Cognitive Science Lab (BaCS) of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at the Cyprus University of Technology.

If you are interested in finding out more and/or taking part in this project, please email Dr Athina Manoli at athina.manoli@cut.ac.cy.