Open AccessRandomized Controlled Trial Testing Mobile-Based Attention-Bias Modification for Posttraumatic Stress Using Personalized Word Stimuli
Author(s) -
Andrea N. Niles,
Joshua Woolley,
Paige Tripp,
Ana Pesquita,
Sophia Vinogradov,
Thomas C. Neylan,
Aoife O’Donovan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
clinical psychological science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.74
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 2167-7034
pISSN - 2167-7026
DOI - 10.1177/2167702620902119
Subject(s) - cognitive bias modification , attentional bias , psychology , placebo , anxiety , randomized controlled trial , clinical psychology , posttraumatic stress , intervention (counseling) , depression (economics) , cognitive bias , psychiatry , cognition , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
Although behavioral therapies are effective for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), access for patients is limited. Attention-bias modification (ABM), a cognitive-training intervention designed to reduce attention bias for threat, can be broadly disseminated using technology. We remotely tested an ABM mobile app for PTSD. Participants ( N = 689) were randomly assigned to personalized ABM, nonpersonalized ABM, or placebo training. ABM was a modified dot-probe paradigm delivered daily for 12 sessions. Personalized ABM included words selected using a recommender algorithm. Placebo included only neutral words. Primary outcomes (PTSD and anxiety) and secondary outcomes (depression and PTSD clusters) were collected at baseline, after training, and at 5-week-follow-up. Mechanisms assessed during treatment were attention bias and self-reported threat sensitivity. No group differences emerged on outcomes or attention bias. Nonpersonalized ABM showed greater declines in self-reported threat sensitivity than placebo ( p = .044). This study constitutes the largest mobile-based trial of ABM to date. Findings do not support the effectiveness of mobile ABM for PTSD.