Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 27;20(3):2270. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032270.
While interpretation-bias modification (IBM) is an effective intervention for treating anxiety, it is not broadly used in clinical or daily practice. To this end, this study developed and tested a smartphone-based IBM application. We adopted the ambiguous situation paradigm as an intervention task in conjunction with robust training materials that broadly covered situations encountered in daily life. We recruited participants with high-trait anxiety and divided them into three groups: (1) positive training; (2) 50% positive-50% negative training; and (3) no-training control. The first two groups completed 28 days of smartphone-based training (IBM in positive cases), and all groups completed six rounds of assessments. The smartphone-based IBM training changed positive and negative endorsements and more specific measures of interpretation bias, thus reducing anxiety. The results also showed that changes in the number of negative interpretations played a mediating role in anxiety reduction. It is notable that the attrition rate was extremely low across the experiment. Our follow-up showed that positive gains persisted throughout the intervening period. Smartphone-based IBM can help individuals with anxiety shift negative biases, broaden their thoughts, enhance their information processing, and effectively target the clinical features of anxiety.
虽然解释偏差修正（IBM）是治疗焦虑症的有效干预措施，但它并未广泛应用于临床或日常实践中。为此，本研究开发并测试了一种基于智能手机的 IBM 应用程序。我们采用了模糊情境范式作为干预任务，并结合了广泛涵盖日常生活中遇到的情境的强大训练材料。我们招募了具有高特质焦虑的参与者，并将他们分为三组：（1）积极训练组；（2）50%积极-50%消极训练组；和（3）无训练对照组。前两组完成了 28 天的基于智能手机的训练（IBM 在积极案例中），所有组都完成了六轮评估。基于智能手机的 IBM 训练改变了积极和消极的认可，以及更具体的解释偏差测量，从而降低了焦虑水平。结果还表明，负面解释数量的变化在焦虑减轻中起中介作用。值得注意的是，整个实验的流失率极低。我们的后续研究表明，积极的收获在整个干预期间持续存在。基于智能手机的 IBM 可以帮助焦虑个体转变负面偏见，拓宽思维，增强信息处理能力，并有效地针对焦虑的临床特征。
