Attentional bias training in depression: Therapeutic effects depend on depression severity

Baert, Saskia; Raedt, Rudi De; Schacht, Rik; Koster, Ernst H. W.

doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.02.004

Cited by 170 publications

(178 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…At the clinical level it is important that retraining of attention elicits effects that generalize beyond the attentional processing of information, influencing also memory bias, with the latter bias being considered a hallmark feature of depression (Matt et al, 1992). So far, attentional retraining in depression has yielded mixed results (Baert, De Raedt, Schacht, & Koster, 2010;Wells & Beevers, 2009). The current results suggest that this training could lead to improvement through attentional as well as memory processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Are attentional bias and memory bias for negative words causally related?

Blaut

Paulewicz²,

Szastok

et al. 2013

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Are attentional bias and memory bias for negative words causally related?

Blaut

Paulewicz²,

Szastok

et al. 2013

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry

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“…Response times (RTs) less than 1000ms were retained (Baert, De Raedt, Schacht, & Koster, 2010) if participants responded correctly to both the probe and the WM task; using alternative outlier criteria did not greatly alter the results. Separate attentional bias scores for the high and low WM load conditions were calculated by subtracting the participants' mean RT on trials where the probe appeared in the threat CS1's location from that for trials where the probe appeared in the non-threat CS2's location.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working memory regulates trait anxiety-related threat processing biases.

Booth¹,

Mackintosh

Sharma

2017

Emotion

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High trait anxious individuals tend to show biased processing of threat. Correlational evidence suggests that executive control could be used to regulate such threat-processing. On this basis, we hypothesised that trait anxiety-related cognitive biases regarding threat should be exaggerated when executive control is experimentally impaired by loading working memory. In Study 1, 68 undergraduates read ambiguous vignettes under high and low working memory load; later, their interpretations of these vignettes were assessed via a recognition test. Trait anxiety predicted biased interpretation of social threat vignettes under high working memory load, but not under low working memory load. In Study 2, 53 undergraduates completed a dot probe task with fear-conditioned Japanese characters serving as threat stimuli. Trait anxiety predicted attentional bias to the threat stimuli but, again, this only occurred under high working memory load. Interestingly however, actual eye movements toward the threat stimuli were only associated with state anxiety and this was not moderated by working memory load, suggesting that executive control regulates biased threat-processing downstream of initial input processes such as orienting. These results suggest that cognitive loads can exacerbate trait anxiety-related cognitive biases, and therefore represent a useful tool for assessing cognitive biases in future research. More importantly, since biased threat-processing has been implicated in the aetiology and maintenance of anxiety, poor executive control may be a risk factor for anxiety disorders.

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“…Given the maintaining role of information processing biases, it is important to consider the potential value of targeted cognitive training that can either train neural structures known to be impaired in depression (Siegle et al, 2007) or modify emotion specific biases in attention (Baert, De Raedt, Schacht, & Koster, 2010;, interpretation (Blackwell & Holmes, 2010;Holmes, Lang, & Shah, 2009;Lang, Blackwell, Harmer, Davison, & Holmes, 2011) or memory (Joormann, Hertel, LeMoult, & Gotlib, 2009;Raes et al, 2009). In general, cognitive bias modification (CBM) methodologies target specific cognitive processes by exposing participants to experimentally established contingencies during a task designed to encourage the acquisition or attenuation of an information processing bias ).…”

Section: Modification Of Cognitive Biasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The combined cognitive bias hypothesis in depression

Everaert

Koster

Derakshan

2012

Clinical Psychology Review

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270

179

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Drawing from substantial evidence demonstrating cognitive biases in depression at various stages of information processing (i.e., attention, interpretation, memory, cognitive control), we argue for an approach that considers the interplay among these processes. This paper attempts to apply the combined cognitive bias hypothesis (Hirsch, Mathews, & Clark, 2006) to depression research and reviews competing theoretical frameworks that have guided research in this area. We draw on current findings from behavioral studies on the interplay between depression-related processing biases. These data indicate that various cognitive biases are associated. However, it is not clear whether single or multiple biases are most predictive of depressive symptoms. We conclude this article with theoretical and clinical implications of the current state of research in this field and propose a number of ways in which research on the combined cognitive bias hypothesis can be advanced. A State-of-the-art Major depression is a prevalent psychiatric disorder that is associated with debilitating symptomatic suffering, functional impairments, and high societal costs (Kessler & Wang, 2009). Notwithstanding a range of well-established psychological and pharmacological interventions, relapse and recurrence rates of depression remain high (Vittengl, Clark, Dunn, & Jarrett, 2007) indicating that current therapies do not sufficiently address vulnerability factors for this burdensome disorder. Moreover, with each successive depressive episode the risk for recurrence increases (Boland & Keller, 2009), which points to an expanding vulnerability with multiple episodes. Hence, profound insight into the mechanisms involved in the etiology and maintenance of major depression seems essential in improving contemporary treatment options and the prevention of depression.In the past three decades, research inspired by cognitive accounts of depression has been successful in identifying vulnerability factors for this disorder. Apart from substantial research examining depressive cognitive content as a vulnerability factor (e.g., negative thoughts), a promising line of research highlights the role of cognitive biases in the development, maintenance, and relapse/recurrence of depression (for reviews see Mathews & MacLeod, 2005). Research efforts in this particular area of interest have typically focused on abnormalities in attention, interpretation, and memory processes, which are considered to be instrumental in the understanding of the processes involved in these cognitive biases. More recently, there is growing interest into cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying cognitive control impairments, which may operate across a variety of cognitive biases. Indeed a substantial number of studies on emotional information processing in depressed samples provide evidence that depression is characterized by attention, interpretation, and memory biases, especially for negative information (see below). COMBINED COGNITIVE BIAS HYPOTHESIS IN DEPRESSION 4This resea...

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Attentional bias training in depression: Therapeutic effects depend on depression severity

Cited by 170 publications

References 38 publications

Are attentional bias and memory bias for negative words causally related?

Are attentional bias and memory bias for negative words causally related?

Working memory regulates trait anxiety-related threat processing biases.

The combined cognitive bias hypothesis in depression

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