Cognitive behavioral group therapy for social phobia with or without attention training: A controlled trial

McEvoy, Peter M.; Perini, Sarah

doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2008.10.008

Cited by 70 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The absence of self-reported changes after ATT without psychoeducation may indicate that the previously noted positive changes after ATT were the result of implemented psychoeducational elements (Papageorgiou and Wells 2000;Valmaggia et al 2007;Wells et al 1997), which may have promoted a metacognitive mode of processing and that ATT may not have provided additional benefits. This explanation is in line with suggestions by McEvoy and Perini (2009); in their study of a sample with diagnosed social phobia, they found that supplementary ATT did not provide incremental effects in an experimental group when both it and the control group received group therapy that included psychoeducation. In the future, it would be highly beneficial to compare the effects of ATT with the effects of psychoeducation.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…ATT consists of a set of three auditory attention exercises: selective attention (i.e., instructions to selectively focus on random sounds), attention switching (i.e., instructions to switch attention between sounds) and divided attention (i.e., instructions to simultaneously perceive as many sounds as possible). Past empirical research has shown that ATT has a promising ability to improve symptoms and modify maladaptive beliefs by preventing fully activated dysfunctional processing routines in several emotional disorders, such as panic disorder (Wells 1990), recurrent major depression (Papageorgiou and Wells 2000), social phobia (Wells et al 1997;McEvoy and Perini 2009), and auditory hallucinations (Valmaggia et al 2007). To the best of our knowledge, only two existing studies have investigated the effects of ATT on health anxiety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effects of Attention Training on Health Anxiety: An Experimental Investigation

et al. 2015

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According to cognitive-behavioural theories, attentional biases, especially increased symptom-focused attention, are crucial for the maintenance of health anxiety. Therefore, the attention training technique (ATT) seems to be a promising approach in reducing body-focused attention and hypochondriacal fears in people with high health anxiety. However, previous research has never implemented ATT on its own but always in combination with psychoeducation. The present study experimentally investigates the isolated impact of ATT on self-reported bodyfocused attention, health anxiety, and attentional bias towards health threatening stimuli. Fifty-four students with elevated health anxiety were randomised into the following conditions: attention training group (ATG), which received ATT; ATG body , which received a variation of ATT that focused on training attention towards the body; and a control group without intervention. The ATG and ATG body spent 1 week actively practicing the trainings. Before and after the training phase, we assessed the self-report measures, and attentional bias by using the Emotional Stroop Task. The ATG displayed no effects on self-report measures of body-focused attention or health anxiety. Against our expectations, the ATG body experienced a significant decrease in the attentional bias (p = .001, Cohen's d = 0.93). Attention training towards the body in people with elevated health anxiety might, therefore, be beneficial in reducing illness-related attentional bias.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Attention Training on Health Anxiety: An Experimental Investigation

et al. 2015

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“…The importance of considering deficits in executive control when conceptualizing PTSD from a metacognitive perspective is highlighted by the fact that a technique was developed to specifically address these deficits in metacognitive therapy. Specifically, the attention training technique (Wells, 1990) was developed to strengthen executive control processes that can be used to interrupt the excessive self-focused, threat-based processing that characterizes the CAS (Wells, 2009). Despite the conceptual importance of executive control to the metacognitive model, the impact of this construct on the relationship between metacognitive beliefs and PTS symptoms has yet to be empirically examined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Executive Control Deficits Potentiate the Effect of Maladaptive Metacognitive Beliefs on Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

Bardeen

Fergus

2018

Front. Psychol.

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The metacognitive model and recent preliminary research suggests that metacognitive beliefs (i.e., beliefs about thinking) may be particularly important for understanding the pathogenesis of posttraumatic stress (PTS). The metacognitive model also suggests that deficits in executive control (i.e., metacognitive control) may increase the impact of metacognitive beliefs on PTS symptoms. Trauma-exposed adult participants (N = 469), recruited through an online crowdsourcing website, completed a battery of measures assessing the constructs of interest. As predicted, deficits in executive control strengthened the positive association between metacognitive beliefs and PTS symptoms. This effect was found in relation to positive (e.g., “Worrying will keep me safe”), but not negative (e.g., “My thoughts are uncontrollable”), metacognitive beliefs. Supplemental analyses, indicated that the interaction between positive metacognitive beliefs and executive control significantly predicted all PTS cluster scores (i.e., Intrusion, Cognition, Arousal, Avoidance). Taken together, results support the proposal that executive control deficits potentiate the effect of metacognitive beliefs on PTS symptoms. Intervention strategies designed to strengthen executive control (e.g., the attention training technique) may be useful in treating individuals with PTS.

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“…Other psychotherapies, however, have shown utility for social anxiety in controlled trials and may be worthy of consideration if CBT has not been effective or if it is unavailable. Two recent controlled trials of a computerized attention training found it highly effective for social anxiety disorder (282,283), although another controlled study did not find that attention training enhanced CBGT (284). One trial (Nϭ58) found that psychodynamic group therapy and clonazepam were more effective than clonazepam alone for social anxiety disorder (285).…”

Section: Other Psychotherapiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in the Management of Treatment-Resistant Anxiety Disorders

Lanouette¹,

Stein²

2010

FOC

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Anxiety disorders are among the most common and disabling mental illnesses. While effective treatments exist, many patients-possibly even 50 -60%-remain symptomatic despite first-line treatments. With the exception of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), there are generally no universal definitions of treatment resistance and many treatments (both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic) have not been tested specifically in refractory cases. This article reviews the evidence for possible medication, psychotherapy, brain stimulation, and neurosurgical approachesincluding some promising novel treatments-for managing treatment-resistant anxiety.

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Cognitive behavioral group therapy for social phobia with or without attention training: A controlled trial

Cited by 70 publications

References 45 publications

The Effects of Attention Training on Health Anxiety: An Experimental Investigation

The Effects of Attention Training on Health Anxiety: An Experimental Investigation

Executive Control Deficits Potentiate the Effect of Maladaptive Metacognitive Beliefs on Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

Advances in the Management of Treatment-Resistant Anxiety Disorders

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