Eye Tracking for Early Anxiety Detection: Analysis of Fixation Duration, Dispersion, and Saccadic Patterns Among University Students
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Eye-tracking technology has emerged as a promising non-invasive tool for assessing cognitive processing and mental health conditions, including anxiety. This study aims to examine differences in ocular behavior between university students classified as anxious and control, based on expert psychological assessment. Thirty participants were involved, comprising 17 anxious and 13 control subjects. Four primary eye-movement metrics were analyzed during a 60-second visual task using a Tobii Eye Tracker: fixation duration, fixation dispersion, percentage of time spent in saccades, and saccade rate.
The results reveal distinct gaze behavior between the two groups. The anxious group exhibited shorter fixation durations (~0.18 s), greater fixation dispersion (≈480–520 px), higher saccadic time proportion (17–18.6%), and faster saccade rates (≈18 s⁻¹) compared to the control group. These patterns reflect the characteristics of hypervigilance, attentional instability, and elevated cognitive load commonly reported among individuals with anxiety. The findings align with the Attentional Control Theory and Threat Monitoring models, which posit that anxiety disrupts sustained attentional engagement and induces excessive environmental scanning. Overall, the study demonstrates that eye-movement biomarkers provide a reliable indicator for distinguishing anxiety levels among students. The results highlight the potential of eye-tracking–based systems for early mental-health detection and objective cognitive assessment in university settings.
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