Chelliah Alysha, Robinson Oliver
Neuroscience and Mental Health Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17-19 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AZ, UK.
R Soc Open Sci. 2022 Aug 10;9(8):211629. doi: 10.1098/rsos.211629. eCollection 2022 Aug.
Negative affective biases are a key feature of anxiety and depression that uphold and promote negative mood. Bias modification aims to reduce these biases using computerized training, but shows mixed success and has not been tested at scale. The aim was to determine whether bias modification delivered via smartphones can improve mood in a large sample. In total, 153 385 self-referring participants were randomly assigned to modification or sham bias training on a dot-probe or visual-search task. The primary outcome of interest was balance of mood, assessed on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. In total, 22 933 participants who provided at least two mood ratings were included in analyses. There was a large amount of participant attrition. In the remaining smaller sample, results supported the prediction that visual-search modification would result in improved mood (95%CI [0.10, 0.82]; = 0.01, = 0.05, = 2588 after two ratings; 95%CI [1.75,6.54]; = 0.001, = 0.32, = 118 after six ratings), which was not seen for the sham version ( = 4818 after two ratings; = 138 after six ratings). Dot-probe modification was not associated with mood improvements ( = 0.52). Visual-search, but not dot-probe, bias modification slightly but significantly improved mood. Although this effect size is very small and subject to large participant drop-off, it might be worth considering an adjunct to current treatments.
消极情感偏差是焦虑和抑郁的一个关键特征，它维持并加剧负面情绪。偏差矫正旨在通过计算机化训练减少这些偏差，但效果不一，且尚未进行大规模测试。本研究旨在确定通过智能手机进行的偏差矫正能否在大样本中改善情绪。总共153385名自荐参与者被随机分配到针对点探测或视觉搜索任务的偏差矫正训练组或虚假偏差训练组。主要关注的结果是情绪平衡，通过正负情感量表进行评估。共有22933名提供了至少两次情绪评分的参与者被纳入分析。存在大量参与者流失的情况。在剩余的较小样本中，结果支持了以下预测：视觉搜索偏差矫正会改善情绪（两次评分后95%CI[0.10, 0.82]；P = 0.01，Cohen's d = 0.05，n = 2588；六次评分后95%CI[1.75, 6.54]；P = 0.001，Cohen's d = 0.32，n = 118），而虚假训练组未出现这种情况（两次评分后n = 4818；六次评分后n = 138）。点探测偏差矫正与情绪改善无关（P = 0.52）。视觉搜索而非点探测偏差矫正虽轻微但显著地改善了情绪。尽管这种效应量非常小且存在大量参与者退出的情况，但它可能值得作为当前治疗的辅助手段加以考虑。
