Effects of standard and explicit cognitive bias modification and computer-administered cognitive-behaviour therapy on cognitive biases and social anxiety

Mobini, Sirous, Mackintosh, Bundy, Illingworth, Jo, Gega, Lina, Langdon, Peter and Hoppitt, Laura (2014) Effects of standard and explicit cognitive bias modification and computer-administered cognitive-behaviour therapy on cognitive biases and social anxiety. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 45 (2). pp. 272-279. ISSN 0005-7916

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Abstract

Background and objectives - This study examines the effects of a single session of Cognitive Bias Modification to induce positive Interpretative bias (CBM-I) using standard or explicit instructions and an analogue of computer-administered CBT (c-CBT) program on modifying cognitive biases and social anxiety.

Methods - A sample of 76 volunteers with social anxiety attended a research site. At both pre- and post-test, participants completed two computer-administered tests of interpretative and attentional biases and a self-report measure of social anxiety. Participants in the training conditions completed a single session of either standard or explicit CBM-I positive training and a c-CBT program. Participants in the Control (no training) condition completed a CBM-I neutral task matched the active CBM-I intervention in format and duration but did not encourage positive disambiguation of socially ambiguous or threatening scenarios.

Results - Participants in both CBM-I programs (either standard or explicit instructions) and the c-CBT condition exhibited more positive interpretations of ambiguous social scenarios at post-test and one-week follow-up as compared to the Control condition. Moreover, the results showed that CBM-I and c-CBT, to some extent, changed negative attention biases in a positive direction. Furthermore, the results showed that both CBM-I training conditions and c-CBT reduced social anxiety symptoms at one-week follow-up.

Limitations - This study used a single session of CBM-I training, however multi-sessions intervention might result in more endurable positive CBM-I changes.

Conclusions - A computerised single session of CBM-I and an analogue of c-CBT program reduced negative interpretative biases and social anxiety.

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