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

Abstract

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.

The effect of immersive virtual reality‐based attentional bias modification on anxiety mitigation in healthy population

“…However, in terms of analysis, the reductions were not significant across sessions in the desktop VR‐ABM group. The finding was inconsistent with previous studies (e.g., Heeren et al, 2012; Macleod et al, 2002; Schwind et al, 2015). The reasons for the conflicting findings may rely on three aspects.…”

“…Many studies have found that attentional bias plays an important role in the onset and maintenance of anxiety (e.g., Amir et al, 2009;Beck & Clark, 1997;Mathews & Mackintosh, 1998;Mogg & Bradley, 1998;Schmidt et al, 2009). The results from subclinical participants suggest that vulnerability to anxiety is associated with an attentional bias that operates to favor the processing of emotionally negative information (Bowler, et al, 2017;Hazen et al, 2009;Schwind et al, 2015), while the results of healthy people support that the induction of attentional bias can serve to modify emotional vulnerability (e.g., Eldar et al, 2008;Chen et al, 2017;Heeren et al, 2012;Macleod et al, 2002). Although some studies failed to replicate the bias and/or anxiety reduction after ABM training (e.g., Amir et al, 2011;Carlbring et al, 2012;Eldar & Bar-Haim, 2010;Heeren et al, 2015b;Julian et al, 2012;McNally et al, 2013;Naim et al, 2017), a spectrum of findings from patients and subclinical and healthy individuals systematically supported a causal relationship between attentional bias and emotional reactivity to negative information.…”

“…Mounting evidence has revealed that attentional bias modification (ABM) could effectively reduce symptoms of various disorders, such as anxiety (e.g., Amir et al, 2009; Heeren et al, 2011; Lazarov et al, 2017), depression (e.g., Haeffel et al, 2012), and drug addiction. In nonclinical populations, ABM has also been shown to alleviate stressful responses (Eldar et al, 2008; Heeren et al, 2012; Macleod et al, 2002), anxiety, and stress vulnerability (Hazen et al, 2009; Mogoașe et al, 2014; Schwind et al, 2015). Among extant studies, the ABM training procedures were mostly performed in clinical or nonclinical anxious populations, and more than 70 percent of these studies confirmed the efficacy of the ABM on anxiety (e.g., Bar‐Haim, 2010; Lazarov et al, 2017; Lopes et al, 2015).…”

فاعلیة العلاج المیتامعرفی فی خفض توهم المرض (قلق الصحة) لدى طلاب الجامعة

“…Creed & Barsky, 2004;Robbins & Kirmayer, 1996 (Tol, et al, 2011 (Buwalda, et al, 2008 (Amir, et al, 2009 Schwind, et al, 2016;Solanto, et al, 2010;Andouz, et al, 2012 ;Wenn, 2015 ;Hutton, et al, 2014;Van der Heiden, et al, Wells, A. (2009).…”