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Purpose: This study delves into the combined cognitive bias hypothesis in depression, exploring the interaction between negative attention, interpretation and memory biases. We aimed to assess whether modifying attention and interpretation bias would lead to congruent changes in memory bias, and to what extend and depth this causal effect can be. Method: Ninety-nine undergraduates underwent either a positive (PT) or negative (NT) four-day attention and interpretation bias training. A set of well-established post-training assessments including free recall, recognition, autobiographic memory, and self-reference encoding tasks were used to evaluate memory bias. Affective states were measured pre- and post-training. Results: Compared to PT, participants in NT correctly retrieved more negative trained stimuli, and falsely recognized more negative synonyms of trained terms. NT also exhibited an enhanced retrieval of negative autobiographical memory. No significant differences were found between NT and PT in self-referential encoding and retrieval bias, or affective states. Discussion: The results suggested an extensive and strong transfer effect from attention and interpretation bias modification to different facets of memory bias, being found in retrieving trained emotional stimuli, in memory intrusion of negative synonyms, and in autobiographic memory recall. The findings underscored the causality between three biases, supporting the combined cognitive bias hypothesis. It might also suggest an effective new approach to modify memory bias via attention and interpretation bias training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the efficacy of Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretation (CBM-I) to reduce hostile interpretation bias and aggressive behavior. Methods: We searched PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases up until January 1, 2023, and assessed risk of bias using Cochrane's risk of bias tool (RoB 2). We used multi-level meta-analysis to synthesize effect sizes. Results: Fourteen articles including 16 randomized studies met the inclusion criteria, yielding data from 1449 participants. CBM-I had medium effects on hostile interpretation (d = −0.62, p <.001) and benign interpretation (d = 0.71, p <.001), and a small effect on aggressive behavior (d = −0.28, p =.017). However, effects on interpretation bias were significant only for measures that were similar to the training method, suggesting that CBM-I effects do not generalize beyond the training task. Moreover, effects on aggressive behavior were significant only for self-reported aggression, suggesting demand effects. Effects on non-self-reported aggression were small and even zero after excluding one study with an exceptionally large effect size. Conclusion: There currently is insufficient evidence to use CBM-I as a treatment component to reduce aggressive behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The current study sought to empirically evaluate the relationships between biases involving judgment of bodies in terms of their shape and weight, ED-specific rumination subtypes (i.e., ED-specific reflection and ED-specific brooding) and eating disorder (ED) symptomatology. Methods: Female undergraduates (n = 344) aged 17–24 years completed self-report measures of ED-specific rumination and ED symptomatology and a novel task designed to assess biased judgement processing of bodies. Results: Results revealed that a bias in judging bodies in terms of their shape and weight was indirectly but not directly associated with ED symptomatology. Specifically, biased judgement processing was indirectly associated with ED symptomatology via ED-specific ruminative reflection but not via ED-specific ruminative brooding. Conclusions: The current findings suggest biased judgement processing of bodies may contribute to ED symptomatology via ED-specific ruminative reflection. It is important to note that the indirect effect was small suggesting the involvement of other potential variables in this relationship. Thus, further exploration of the cognitive factors involved in the relationship between biased judgement processing and ED symptomatology is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This research proposes that cognitive biases involving the categorisation of food in terms of calorie content may contribute to restrictive eating in anorexia nervosa (AN). The current study sought to discriminate the validity of two novel hypotheses: (1) People with AN more readily categorise food in terms of calorie content rather than in terms of alternative dimensions (e.g., tastiness), and (2) people with AN have difficulty reclassifying food initially categorised in terms of calorie content, in terms of alternative dimensions. Methods: To test these hypotheses, a novel food categorisation task was developed and delivered to people with a self-reported lifetime diagnosis of AN (N = 48) and to people with no history of an eating disorder (N = 133). Participants categorised food in terms of calorie content or tastiness. Results: Results revealed that the AN group, relative to the comparison group, was faster to categorise food in terms of calorie content and slower to reclassify food initially categorised in terms of calorie content. Conclusions: These findings suggest that AN is characterised by both an inflated tendency to categorise food in terms of calorie content and to become subsequently stuck on this categorisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Depression often leads to clinical admission. Stimulating positive memory bias through repeated retrieval can counteract a ruminative depressotypic processing style. Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM)-Memory is a psychological intervention, which was evaluated as possible adjunct treatment for depressed inpatients. Methods: A randomized controlled pilot study with a one-week follow-up was implemented to compare the effect of a four-session positive CBM-Memory intervention to a neutral CBM-Memory version. Training-congruent retrieval (as manipulation check), and transfer to rumination (as mechanistic target) and depressive symptoms (self-rated and clinician-rated; indication of clinical relevance) were assessed. Results: In the intention-to-treat sample (N = 81, Mage=35.6/SD = 11.9, 60% female), condition-congruent memory retrieval of previously presented target words was found after the training and at follow-up (large effect-sizes). Positive CBM-Memory intervention resulted in sustained recall bias and largest rumination reduction with a small-medium effect size. Additionally, the conditions did not differ significantly on the reduction in depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Positive CBM-Memory intervention yielded positive recall bias, which was still present one week later. Additionally, the positive condition did yield more decrease in trait (but not state) rumination, providing some support for rumination as mechanistic target of positive CBM-Memory. However, there was no evidence for transfer of the training effect to depressive symptoms, indicating no superiority on clinical recovery of the positive over the neutral condition. Future research should examine a higher dosage, integration of CBM in the treatment provision, and its long-term effects in a well-powered trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: According to major cognitive accounts of panic disorder, bodily sensations can lead to automatic activation of an associative fear network, potentially triggering a cascade of cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses culminating in a panic attack. However, the evidence for the automatic associations assumed by these models is mixed. This may reflect the heterogeneous nature of panic disorder, in that the relative importance of different bodily sensations and symptoms varies between individuals. The current study aimed to test this possibility via measuring the associations between three different sets of panic symptoms (cognitive, respiratory, cardiac) and scores on three symptom-specific single target implicit association tests (STIATs). Methods: A total of 226 unselected female participants aged 18–35 completed the STIATs as well as questionnaires assessing panic symptoms and related measures in a web-based study. Results: Only limited evidence was found to support the idea of specific associations between STIAT stimuli sets and their related panic symptoms. Exploratory analyses indicated that there were only associations between STIAT scores and panic-relevant questionnaires amongst those participants who had experienced a panic attack in the previous 6 months. Conclusions: The results have implications for measuring panic-relevant associations and understanding their role in panic disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Math anxiety in adolescence negatively affects learning math and careers. The current study investigated whether three cognitive biases, i.e. math-failure associations, attentional biases (engagement and disengagement), and avoidance bias for math, were related to math anxiety and math behaviour (math grade and math avoidance behaviour). Methods: In total, 500 secondary school students performed three cognitive bias tasks, questionnaires and a math performance task, and reported their grades. Results: Math-failure associations showed the most consistent associations with the outcome measures. They were associated with higher math anxiety above and beyond sex and education level. Those math-failure associations were also associated with lower grades and more avoidance behaviour, however, not above and beyond math anxiety. Engagement bias and avoidance tendency bias were associated with math avoidance behaviour, though the avoidance bias finding should be interpreted with care given the low reliability of the measure. Disengagement biases were not associated with any math anxiety nor behaviour outcome measure. Conclusions: Whereas a more reliable instrument for avoidance bias is necessary for conclusions on the relations with math performance and behaviour, the current results do suggest that math-failure associations, and not attentional bias, may play a role in the maintenance of math anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interpretation biases (IBs) are central in panic disorder, and there is rich evidence showing that these are correlated with and predictive of panic-relevant symptomatology. However, experimental studies are needed to examine the potential causal effects of IBs, as predicted by cognitive models. Methods: Panic-related IBs were manipulated via a sentence-completion Cognitive Bias Modification-Interpretation (CBM-I) training. The sample included N = 112 healthy participants reporting moderate levels of fear of bodily sensations. Participants were randomly allocated to a positive, negative, or control CBM-I condition. To test the trainings' effect on panic-relevant cognitive processing, IBs were assessed via proximal and distal measures. Symptom provocation tasks were applied to test transfer to panic-relevant symptomatology. Results: Results on the proximal measure showed that positive CBM-I led to more positive IBs compared to negative, and control training. Further, positive CBM-I led to more positive IBs on the distal measure as compared to negative CBM-I. However, there were no differential training effects on panic-related symptomatology triggered via the provocation tasks. Conclusion: The findings indicate a limited generalization of the effects of CBM-I on IBs and panic-related symptoms. Potential means to improve generalization, such as applying more nuanced measures and combining CBM-I with psychoeducation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) often report a fear that they will lose control of their emotions or report intense, unpleasant thoughts or images of uncontrollably humiliating themselves in social situations. These fears and associated beliefs that one is likely to lose control may underlie the anxiety and/or cognitive biases (e.g., self-focused attention and negative post-event processing) experienced during and following social situations. The present experiment examined whether manipulating beliefs about losing control would cause changes in symptoms of SAD. Methods: One hundred and twenty-six undergraduate psychology students were given false feedback that they were either at high or low risk of losing control, and then completed a social interaction task with an actor. Participants rated their anxiety before and during the interaction and completed a post-event processing questionnaire 24-hours later. Results: Participants in the high beliefs about losing control (HLC) condition reported significantly greater subjective anxiety than those in the low beliefs about losing control (LLC) condition leading up to the social interaction task, and significantly more negative post-event processing. Conclusion: Results suggest beliefs about losing control may play a causal role in the development and maintenance of SAD. These beliefs may represent a novel domain to be targeted in CBT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cognitive biases are found to play a role in the onset and maintenance of social anxiety. However, particularly in adolescence, the link between different biases and their role in predicting social anxiety is far from clear. This study therefore investigated the interplay between attention bias and interpretation bias in relation to social anxiety in adolescence across three years. Methods: 816 adolescents in grade 7 to 9 participated at three yearly waves (52.8% boys, Mage grade7 = 12.60). Social anxiety was measured with a self-report questionnaire. Attention bias was measured with a visual search task with emotional faces. Textual vignettes assessed interpretation bias. Results: Cross-lagged models showed that negative interpretation bias at grade 7 predicted an increase in social anxiety at grade 8. This effect was not found from grade 8 to 9. Attention bias did not predict social anxiety. Attention bias and interpretation bias were not longitudinally related to each other, nor did they interact with each other in predicting social anxiety. Conclusions: Thus, no evidence was found for the Combined Cognitive Bias Hypothesis in social anxiety in adolescents. Instead, our results suggest that interpretation bias rather than attention bias contributes to the increase of social anxiety over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Depressive symptoms are associated with reduced processing of and memory for positive content. These cognitive biases maintain depressive states, and are presumed to be interrelated. This study examined the effect of a single-session training to process (or inhibit) positive stimuli, on memory of new emotional content.Participants (N = 138) were randomly assigned to conditions designed to increase or inhibit processing of positive content. Then, they made self-referential judgments concerning positive, negative and neutral words. Lastly, they free-recalled the words and completed a depression questionnaire.Training was effective in directing participants’ processing efforts. However, the effect of the training on self-referential judgment and memory for new positive content was only significant when contingent on depression levels. Positive endorsement and recall biases were negatively affected by the positive training among participants with higher depression scores.These findings shed light on possible adverse effects of extensive exposure to positive content in depression.Methods: Depressive symptoms are associated with reduced processing of and memory for positive content. These cognitive biases maintain depressive states, and are presumed to be interrelated. This study examined the effect of a single-session training to process (or inhibit) positive stimuli, on memory of new emotional content.Participants (N = 138) were randomly assigned to conditions designed to increase or inhibit processing of positive content. Then, they made self-referential judgments concerning positive, negative and neutral words. Lastly, they free-recalled the words and completed a depression questionnaire.Training was effective in directing participants’ processing efforts. However, the effect of the training on self-referential judgment and memory for new positive content was only significant when contingent on depression levels. Positive endorsement and recall biases were negatively affected by the positive training among participants with higher depression scores.These findings shed light on possible adverse effects of extensive exposure to positive content in depression.Results: Depressive symptoms are associated with reduced processing of and memory for positive content. These cognitive biases maintain depressive states, and are presumed to be interrelated. This study examined the effect of a single-session training to process (or inhibit) positive stimuli, on memory of new emotional content.Participants (N = 138) were randomly assigned to conditions designed to increase or inhibit processing of positive content. Then, they made self-referential judgments concerning positive, negative and neutral words. Lastly, they free-recalled the words and completed a depression questionnaire.Training was effective in directing participants’ processing efforts. However, the effect of the training on self-referential judgment and memory for new positive content was only significant when contingent on depression levels. Positive endorsement and recall biases were negatively affected by the positive training among participants with higher depression scores.These findings shed light on possible adverse effects of extensive exposure to positive content in depression.Conclusions: Depressive symptoms are associated with reduced processing of and memory for positive content. These cognitive biases maintain depressive states, and are presumed to be interrelated. This study examined the effect of a single-session training to process (or inhibit) positive stimuli, on memory of new emotional content.Participants (N = 138) were randomly assigned to conditions designed to increase or inhibit processing of positive content. Then, they made self-referential judgments concerning positive, negative and neutral words. Lastly, they free-recalled the words and completed a depression questionnaire.Training was effective in directing participants’ processing efforts. However, the effect of the training on self-referential judgment and memory for new positive content was only significant when contingent on depression levels. Positive endorsement and recall biases were negatively affected by the positive training among participants with higher depression scores.These findings shed light on possible adverse effects of extensive exposure to positive content in depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Excessive attentional allocation towards threats has been theorized to play a maintaining role in social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, it is unclear if both heightened attentional focus towards internal threats (i.e., interoceptive signals of anxiety) and external threats (i.e., negative social-evaluative cues) are pathogenic. Further, evidence for the causal pathways by which biased attention maintains SAD is limited. The present study tested the effects of experimentally induced internally and externally oriented attention towards threats relative to a neutral control on state anxiety and post-event processing (PEP) in a highly socially anxious sample.During an impromptu speech task, participants (N = 123) were randomized to allocating their attention to their own thoughts, actions, or body sensations (internal condition; n = 41), to an audience member’s reactions and evaluations (external condition; n = 42), or to a neutral object (control condition; n = 40). State anxiety and PEP were assessed immediately following the speech and 24 h later.Although no differences between the control condition and the external and internal conditions were observed, participants in the internal condition reported significantly higher state anxiety immediately after the speech and higher PEP 24 h later compared to the external condition. State anxiety immediately after the speech mediated heightened PEP 24 h later among the internal condition compared to the external condition.Findings support the theorized maladaptive role of self-focused attention in the maintenance of SAD and suggest that attending internally may be more harmful than attending externally, despite the presence of socio-evaluative threats in the environment.Methods: Excessive attentional allocation towards threats has been theorized to play a maintaining role in social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, it is unclear if both heightened attentional focus towards internal threats (i.e., interoceptive signals of anxiety) and external threats (i.e., negative social-evaluative cues) are pathogenic. Further, evidence for the causal pathways by which biased attention maintains SAD is limited. The present study tested the effects of experimentally induced internally and externally oriented attention towards threats relative to a neutral control on state anxiety and post-event processing (PEP) in a highly socially anxious sample.During an impromptu speech task, participants (N = 123) were randomized to allocating their attention to their own thoughts, actions, or body sensations (internal condition; n = 41), to an audience member’s reactions and evaluations (external condition; n = 42), or to a neutral object (control condition; n = 40). State anxiety and PEP were assessed immediately following the speech and 24 h later.Although no differences between the control condition and the external and internal conditions were observed, participants in the internal condition reported significantly higher state anxiety immediately after the speech and higher PEP 24 h later compared to the external condition. State anxiety immediately after the speech mediated heightened PEP 24 h later among the internal condition compared to the external condition.Findings support the theorized maladaptive role of self-focused attention in the maintenance of SAD and suggest that attending internally may be more harmful than attending externally, despite the presence of socio-evaluative threats in the environment.Results: Excessive attentional allocation towards threats has been theorized to play a maintaining role in social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, it is unclear if both heightened attentional focus towards internal threats (i.e., interoceptive signals of anxiety) and external threats (i.e., negative social-evaluative cues) are pathogenic. Further, evidence for the causal pathways by which biased attention maintains SAD is limited. The present study tested the effects of experimentally induced internally and externally oriented attention towards threats relative to a neutral control on state anxiety and post-event processing (PEP) in a highly socially anxious sample.During an impromptu speech task, participants (N = 123) were randomized to allocating their attention to their own thoughts, actions, or body sensations (internal condition; n = 41), to an audience member’s reactions and evaluations (external condition; n = 42), or to a neutral object (control condition; n = 40). State anxiety and PEP were assessed immediately following the speech and 24 h later.Although no differences between the control condition and the external and internal conditions were observed, participants in the internal condition reported significantly higher state anxiety immediately after the speech and higher PEP 24 h later compared to the external condition. State anxiety immediately after the speech mediated heightened PEP 24 h later among the internal condition compared to the external condition.Findings support the theorized maladaptive role of self-focused attention in the maintenance of SAD and suggest that attending internally may be more harmful than attending externally, despite the presence of socio-evaluative threats in the environment.Conclusions: Excessive attentional allocation towards threats has been theorized to play a maintaining role in social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, it is unclear if both heightened attentional focus towards internal threats (i.e., interoceptive signals of anxiety) and external threats (i.e., negative social-evaluative cues) are pathogenic. Further, evidence for the causal pathways by which biased attention maintains SAD is limited. The present study tested the effects of experimentally induced internally and externally oriented attention towards threats relative to a neutral control on state anxiety and post-event processing (PEP) in a highly socially anxious sample.During an impromptu speech task, participants (N = 123) were randomized to allocating their attention to their own thoughts, actions, or body sensations (internal condition; n = 41), to an audience member’s reactions and evaluations (external condition; n = 42), or to a neutral object (control condition; n = 40). State anxiety and PEP were assessed immediately following the speech and 24 h later.Although no differences between the control condition and the external and internal conditions were observed, participants in the internal condition reported significantly higher state anxiety immediately after the speech and higher PEP 24 h later compared to the external condition. State anxiety immediately after the speech mediated heightened PEP 24 h later among the internal condition compared to the external condition.Findings support the theorized maladaptive role of self-focused attention in the maintenance of SAD and suggest that attending internally may be more harmful than attending externally, despite the presence of socio-evaluative threats in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interpretation biases are a form of cognitive bias in which ambiguous information is resolved in a consistent manner; threat-related interpretation biases are documented across a range of psychiatric disorders. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is the tendency to perceive uncertainty as threatening. Despite the relevance of IU to threat-related interpretation biases, relatively little work has examined the associations between these constructs, particularly in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).This study examined the associations between IU, PTSD, and threat-related interpretation biases among 342 trauma-exposed adults (n = 156; 45.6% with provisional PTSD). Participants completed an online survey, including the Prospective IU and Inhibitory IU subscales of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12 (IUS-12), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and the Interpretation Bias Index for PTSD (IBIP). Responses to the IBIP were summed to capture explicit biases (i.e., the extent to which ambiguous sentences were perceived as threatening). Additionally, timing data were collected and used as an exploratory metric of implicit biases (i.e., the speed with which participants resolved threat-related ambiguity).PTSD symptom severity was associated with both explicit and implicit threat biases. Prospective and inhibitory IU were each robustly associated with explicit threat biases, whereas only inhibitory IU was associated with implicit biases toward threat.Results indicate that PTSD symptoms and IU are each associated with threat-related interpretation biases among trauma-exposed individuals.Method: Interpretation biases are a form of cognitive bias in which ambiguous information is resolved in a consistent manner; threat-related interpretation biases are documented across a range of psychiatric disorders. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is the tendency to perceive uncertainty as threatening. Despite the relevance of IU to threat-related interpretation biases, relatively little work has examined the associations between these constructs, particularly in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).This study examined the associations between IU, PTSD, and threat-related interpretation biases among 342 trauma-exposed adults (n = 156; 45.6% with provisional PTSD). Participants completed an online survey, including the Prospective IU and Inhibitory IU subscales of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12 (IUS-12), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and the Interpretation Bias Index for PTSD (IBIP). Responses to the IBIP were summed to capture explicit biases (i.e., the extent to which ambiguous sentences were perceived as threatening). Additionally, timing data were collected and used as an exploratory metric of implicit biases (i.e., the speed with which participants resolved threat-related ambiguity).PTSD symptom severity was associated with both explicit and implicit threat biases. Prospective and inhibitory IU were each robustly associated with explicit threat biases, whereas only inhibitory IU was associated with implicit biases toward threat.Results indicate that PTSD symptoms and IU are each associated with threat-related interpretation biases among trauma-exposed individuals.Results: Interpretation biases are a form of cognitive bias in which ambiguous information is resolved in a consistent manner; threat-related interpretation biases are documented across a range of psychiatric disorders. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is the tendency to perceive uncertainty as threatening. Despite the relevance of IU to threat-related interpretation biases, relatively little work has examined the associations between these constructs, particularly in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).This study examined the associations between IU, PTSD, and threat-related interpretation biases among 342 trauma-exposed adults (n = 156; 45.6% with provisional PTSD). Participants completed an online survey, including the Prospective IU and Inhibitory IU subscales of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12 (IUS-12), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and the Interpretation Bias Index for PTSD (IBIP). Responses to the IBIP were summed to capture explicit biases (i.e., the extent to which ambiguous sentences were perceived as threatening). Additionally, timing data were collected and used as an exploratory metric of implicit biases (i.e., the speed with which participants resolved threat-related ambiguity).PTSD symptom severity was associated with both explicit and implicit threat biases. Prospective and inhibitory IU were each robustly associated with explicit threat biases, whereas only inhibitory IU was associated with implicit biases toward threat.Results indicate that PTSD symptoms and IU are each associated with threat-related interpretation biases among trauma-exposed individuals.Conclusions: Interpretation biases are a form of cognitive bias in which ambiguous information is resolved in a consistent manner; threat-related interpretation biases are documented across a range of psychiatric disorders. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is the tendency to perceive uncertainty as threatening. Despite the relevance of IU to threat-related interpretation biases, relatively little work has examined the associations between these constructs, particularly in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).This study examined the associations between IU, PTSD, and threat-related interpretation biases among 342 trauma-exposed adults (n = 156; 45.6% with provisional PTSD). Participants completed an online survey, including the Prospective IU and Inhibitory IU subscales of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12 (IUS-12), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and the Interpretation Bias Index for PTSD (IBIP). Responses to the IBIP were summed to capture explicit biases (i.e., the extent to which ambiguous sentences were perceived as threatening). Additionally, timing data were collected and used as an exploratory metric of implicit biases (i.e., the speed with which participants resolved threat-related ambiguity).PTSD symptom severity was associated with both explicit and implicit threat biases. Prospective and inhibitory IU were each robustly associated with explicit threat biases, whereas only inhibitory IU was associated with implicit biases toward threat.Results indicate that PTSD symptoms and IU are each associated with threat-related interpretation biases among trauma-exposed individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Worry-related negative metacognitive beliefs about worrying maintain and predict pathological worry. For the current proof-of-principle study, we developed a computerized cognitive bias modification based—reappraisal training (RT), to modify the appraisal of negative metacognitive beliefs in a high-worrying sample. A functional and dysfunctional RT were pitted against each other to investigate whether appraisals of one's thinking and coping changed following training. Moreover, training effects on the number of negative thoughts and interpretations of the worry content were examined. Methods: Participants (N = 81) were trained to adopt a functional (disconfirmation of negative metacognitive beliefs) or dysfunctional (confirmation of negative metacognitive beliefs) appraisal style using a series of vignettes that had to be completed in line with the intended training direction. Changes in negative thoughts from pre- to post-RT were assessed with a behavioral state worry task, and transfer to interpretations with an open-ended stem sentence task. Results: Findings support the use of the RT to alter a metacognitive appraisal bias, as participants receiving the functional RT reported fewer negative appraisals of one's thinking and coping than participants in the dysfunctional RT group. Number of negative thoughts and interpretations were not directly affected by training. Limitations: This study employed an analog sample and future research should replicate findings in a clinical sample for which negative metacognitions are more relevant. Conclusions: These findings highlight the potential of metacognitive RT for future translational studies with (clinical) samples characterized by repetitive negative thinking and/or negative metacognitive beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mental imagery can help people have meaningful experiences and improve their mental and physical health. This study aimed to explore the intervention effect of positive mental imagery training (imagery cognitive bias modification) on the negative emotions of Chinese college students with at least mild symptoms of depression. Methods: A 2 (group: training group, non-training group) by 4 (time: pre-, post-, 1-week follow-up, and 6-week follow-up) mixed design was used in this study, with the group as the between-participants factor and the time as the within-participants factor. Forty-nine participants were pseudo-randomly assigned to either the imagery training group (received 7 days of training) or the non-training group (continued their daily lives as usual). Both groups were followed up at 1 week and 6 weeks after the intervention via online questionnaires. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were conducted using baseline, post-training (all participants, N = 49), and follow-up (N = 42) data. Results: Compared to participants in the no training group, participants in the positive mental imagery training group showed improvements in depression symptoms and trait anxiety; as well as the likelihood rating of positive imagery across the subsequent three assessments. The vividness of positive imagery post-training also improved. However, there was no significant between-group difference in negative interpretation bias. Conclusions: Positive mental imagery training effectively improved negative emotions and anxiety in adults with depression symptoms after 1 week of training, with these effects lasting for at least 6 weeks, indicating that this type of training should be further explored in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Autobiographical memories have been found to be related to one’s current psychological state. Biases in autobiographical memories in terms of valence, content, and specificity are thought to be related to one’s well-being and mental health. Previous studies have shown that by using cognitive bias modification techniques that aim to alter one’s interpretation bias, memory valence bias could also be altered. The goal of the current study was to investigate if these techniques can also alter overgenerality of autobiographical memory, a phenomenon strongly associated with different psychopathologies. We hypothesized that creating a positive interpretation would decrease overgenerality of autobiographical memories while a negative interpretation bias would increase overgenerality.Sixty participants were recruited and divided into two groups, positive vs. negative imagery Cognitive Bias Modification (i-CBM). Both groups completed an Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) before and after undergoing one i-CBM session (positive or negative).positive i-CBM reduced overgenerality of autobiographical memories, while negative i-CBM increased it.These results suggest that changing one’s cognitive interpretation bias also changes one’s memory bias. Thus, the same task that reduces negative bias from autobiographical memories also reduces overgenerality of autobiographical memories. In addition, the results strengthen the suggestion that the use of imagery and the ability to generate specific autobiographical memories are related. These findings hold great potential for our understanding of the interconnection between the different cognitive memory biases that lay at the base of several psychopathologies.Methods: Autobiographical memories have been found to be related to one’s current psychological state. Biases in autobiographical memories in terms of valence, content, and specificity are thought to be related to one’s well-being and mental health. Previous studies have shown that by using cognitive bias modification techniques that aim to alter one’s interpretation bias, memory valence bias could also be altered. The goal of the current study was to investigate if these techniques can also alter overgenerality of autobiographical memory, a phenomenon strongly associated with different psychopathologies. We hypothesized that creating a positive interpretation would decrease overgenerality of autobiographical memories while a negative interpretation bias would increase overgenerality.Sixty participants were recruited and divided into two groups, positive vs. negative imagery Cognitive Bias Modification (i-CBM). Both groups completed an Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) before and after undergoing one i-CBM session (positive or negative).positive i-CBM reduced overgenerality of autobiographical memories, while negative i-CBM increased it.These results suggest that changing one’s cognitive interpretation bias also changes one’s memory bias. Thus, the same task that reduces negative bias from autobiographical memories also reduces overgenerality of autobiographical memories. In addition, the results strengthen the suggestion that the use of imagery and the ability to generate specific autobiographical memories are related. These findings hold great potential for our understanding of the interconnection between the different cognitive memory biases that lay at the base of several psychopathologies.Results: Autobiographical memories have been found to be related to one’s current psychological state. Biases in autobiographical memories in terms of valence, content, and specificity are thought to be related to one’s well-being and mental health. Previous studies have shown that by using cognitive bias modification techniques that aim to alter one’s interpretation bias, memory valence bias could also be altered. The goal of the current study was to investigate if these techniques can also alter overgenerality of autobiographical memory, a phenomenon strongly associated with different psychopathologies. We hypothesized that creating a positive interpretation would decrease overgenerality of autobiographical memories while a negative interpretation bias would increase overgenerality.Sixty participants were recruited and divided into two groups, positive vs. negative imagery Cognitive Bias Modification (i-CBM). Both groups completed an Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) before and after undergoing one i-CBM session (positive or negative).positive i-CBM reduced overgenerality of autobiographical memories, while negative i-CBM increased it.These results suggest that changing one’s cognitive interpretation bias also changes one’s memory bias. Thus, the same task that reduces negative bias from autobiographical memories also reduces overgenerality of autobiographical memories. In addition, the results strengthen the suggestion that the use of imagery and the ability to generate specific autobiographical memories are related. These findings hold great potential for our understanding of the interconnection between the different cognitive memory biases that lay at the base of several psychopathologies.Conclusions: Autobiographical memories have been found to be related to one’s current psychological state. Biases in autobiographical memories in terms of valence, content, and specificity are thought to be related to one’s well-being and mental health. Previous studies have shown that by using cognitive bias modification techniques that aim to alter one’s interpretation bias, memory valence bias could also be altered. The goal of the current study was to investigate if these techniques can also alter overgenerality of autobiographical memory, a phenomenon strongly associated with different psychopathologies. We hypothesized that creating a positive interpretation would decrease overgenerality of autobiographical memories while a negative interpretation bias would increase overgenerality.Sixty participants were recruited and divided into two groups, positive vs. negative imagery Cognitive Bias Modification (i-CBM). Both groups completed an Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) before and after undergoing one i-CBM session (positive or negative).positive i-CBM reduced overgenerality of autobiographical memories, while negative i-CBM increased it.These results suggest that changing one’s cognitive interpretation bias also changes one’s memory bias. Thus, the same task that reduces negative bias from autobiographical memories also reduces overgenerality of autobiographical memories. In addition, the results strengthen the suggestion that the use of imagery and the ability to generate specific autobiographical memories are related. These findings hold great potential for our understanding of the interconnection between the different cognitive memory biases that lay at the base of several psychopathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dysfunctional appraisals are a key mechanism in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Experimental manipulations of appraisals via Cognitive Bias Modification-Appraisal (CBM-App) training targeting cognitions related to the 'self' has shown to affect analog trauma symptoms. The present study aimed to conceptually replicate and extend previous findings by comparing a newly developed 'world' to the original 'self' training, and investigate the moderating role of locus of control (LOC) on intrusions. Methods: Healthy participants (N = 173) were exposed to distressing films as an analog trauma induction. Next, participants received positive or negative CBM-App, targeting either self- or world-relevant appraisals. Dysfunctional appraisals and LOC were assessed pre- and post-training. During the week after the laboratory session, participants recorded their intrusions and associated distress in a diary. One week later, trauma-relevant symptomatology was assessed. Results: Positive compared to negative CBM-App induced training-congruent appraisals, independent of the trained cognition (self vs. world). However, there was no effect on analog trauma symptoms and LOC did not moderate the training's effect. Conclusions: Our results underline the validity of CBM-App as a method to experimentally manipulate appraisals. However, since we did not fully replicate previous findings further research on mechanisms associated with transfer effects is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Initial evidence suggests Socratic questioning predicts session-to-session symptom change in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression, but little is known about which clients are most likely to benefit from this approach. We examined pretreatment client characteristics as potential moderators of the relation between Socratic questioning and symptom improvement. Methods: Participants were 55 adults who met criteria for major depressive disorder and participated in CBT. Clients on antidepressant medication were required to be on a stable dose during the study. Therapist use of Socratic questioning was rated by trained observers at sessions 1–3 and depressive symptoms were assessed at each session. We examined four potential pre-treatment moderators of the relation of within-client Socratic questioning and session-to-session symptom change: cognitive bias, medication use, presence of a personality disorder, and dysfunctional attitudes. Results: Pessimistic bias in predicting future life events and concurrent use of antidepressant medication emerged as significant moderators with small effects. Among clients with a greater pessimistic bias and those not on antidepressant medication, Socratic questioning more strongly predicted symptom improvement. Conclusions: Findings are consistent with the view that Socratic questioning promotes session-to-session symptom improvements for some clients but plays a less important role for others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy that has been linked to positive emotional and health outcomes. However, the basic cognitive mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of reappraisal remain understudied and not well understood. To address this limitation, the present study examined whether long-term memory processes, including emotional memory accessibility, memory bias, and overgeneral memory, are related to individual differences in reappraisal effectiveness. Methods: All participants (N = 101) completed a memory accessibility and sentence completion memory task to measure bias, specificity, and accessibility of emotional memories. Next, participants completed an emotion regulation task requesting them to either attend to or reappraise negative self-referent thoughts. Results: The results of the linear regression models showed that memory bias, but not memory specificity or accessibility, accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in the effectiveness of reappraisal. Retrieval of more negative memories was related to lower reductions in negative mood. Conclusions: These findings suggest that emotional long-term memory processes, and particularly memory bias, may modulate downregulation of negative emotions when implementing reappraisal. These insights could be leveraged to guide psychological treatments using cognitive techniques that rely on successful reappraisal use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cognitive models of mood disorders emphasize a causal role of negative affective biases in depression. Computational work suggests that these biases may stem from a belief that negative events have a higher information content than positive events, resulting in preferential processing of and learning from negative outcomes. Learning biases therefore represent a promising target for therapeutic interventions. In this proof-of-concept study in healthy volunteers, we assessed the malleability of biased reinforcement learning using a novel cognitive training paradigm and concurrent transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Methods: In two studies, young healthy adults completed two sessions of negative (n = 20) or positive (n = 20) training designed to selectively increase learning from loss or win outcomes, respectively. During training active or sham tDCS was applied bilaterally to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Analyses tested for changes both in learning rates and win- and loss-driven behaviour. Potential positive/negative emotional transfer of win/loss learning was assessed by a facial emotion recognition task and mood questionnaires. Results: Negative and positive training increased learning rates for losses and wins, respectively. With negative training, there was also a trend for win (but not loss) learning rates to decrease over successive task blocks. After negative training, there was evidence for near transfer in the form of an increase in loss-driven choices when participants performed a similar (untrained) task. There was no change in far transfer measures of emotional face processing or mood. tDCS had no effect on any aspect of behaviour. Discussion and Conclusions: Negative training induced a mild negative bias in healthy adults as reflected in loss-driven choice behaviour. Prefrontal tDCS had no effect. Further research is needed to assess if this training procedure can be adapted to enhance learning from positive outcomes and whether effects translate to affective disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rationality biases, such as the gambling fallacy (e.g., predicting future coin-tosses based on previous tosses) and the famous "Linda" conjunction fallacy (estimating the conjunction that "Linda" is both teller and feminist based on her description) have not been examined in people suffering from acute stress disorder (ASD). We analyze potential outcomes and align them with different theories. Methods: To discern the precise pattern of rationality biases in persons with ASD, we examined performance on these 2 tasks within a month of the Hayian Super-Typhoon (August 27th, 2013). Out of a sample of 1001 persons, 82 had clinical ASD and their performance was compared to the remaining 919 participants. Results: A specific link between ASD and rationality biases revealed that although conjunction task performance was not associated with ASD diagnosis, coin-task performance was. Namely, responding "Heads" to a 6th coin-toss after 5 successive "Heads" (reverse gambling fallacy) was robustly linked with ASD diagnosis. Conclusion: The results align with the bridging of trauma theories claiming that trauma symptoms are generated by disequilibrium following trauma exposure, with prospect theory's notion of chance, which is conceived as belief in equilibrium restoration. Such disequilibrium following trauma exposure is thus linked with the belief underlying reverse gambling fallacy biases, namely "what-was-will-be". Implications regarding themes important to address in therapy are mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brief computerized programs that train less threatening interpretations (termed Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretations, or CBM-I) can shift interpretation biases and subsequent anxiety symptoms. However, results have been inconsistent, particularly for studies conducted over the Internet. Methods: The current exploratory study tests 13 variations of a single brief session of CBM-I, a non-CBM-I cognitive flexibility condition, a neutral condition, and a no task control condition in an analogue sample with moderate to severe anxiety. Results: Results suggest that all conditions, except the neutral scenarios condition and the alternative way to improve cognitive flexibility, led to changes in interpretations (when compared to the no task control condition). Only conditions geared toward increasing imagery during CBM-I and targeting flexibility related to emotional material differed from the no task control condition on other post-training measures. Conclusions: Presenting valenced interpretations of ambiguous information during brief CBM-I, regardless of the format, can lead to changes in interpretation bias. However, most conditions did not differ from the no task control condition on other post-training assessments (and differences that did occur may be due to chance). Future trials should consider further testing of CBM-I that targets flexibility related to emotional material, and should include an increased number of sessions and trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There has been a recent surge of interest in the development of the Judgement Bias Test (JBT) as a translational assay and objective measure of depressive interpretation bias. Judgement bias, namely the tendency of favoring an approach/avoidance response towards ambiguous cues, is thought to reflect a biased interpretation or anticipation of the cues. However, no study has examined the relationship between judgement bias and depressive interpretation bias. Methods: We validated the JBT against established measurements of interpretation bias in a college sample (Study 1) and an adolescent sample (Study 2). Results: In both samples, a negative judgement bias was significantly associated with a depressive interpretation bias. However, the strength of the associations was only moderate and failed to meet the minimum qualification of convergent validity. Conclusions: Our results suggest that judgement bias and interpretation bias might be related but distinct. The JBT should not be used as an indirect assessment of interpretation bias in its current form, and it would be premature to claim that animal studies using the JBT could inform our understanding of cognitive biases in mood disorders. Nevertheless, the JBT might be useful for studying specific mechanisms, such as reward processing under ambiguity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: According to a growing body of literature, people are quite inaccurate in recalling past affective experiences. Nevertheless, the mechanism underlying this recall bias (i.e., the tendency to overestimate and/or underestimate positive or negative past emotional experiences) remains unclear, and its association with mental health has not been studied yet. Methods: We adopted a smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment to monitor daily affect (n = 92) and investigate the association between affect recall bias, mental health and resilience. Results: While the tendency to overestimate negative affective experiences was observed in participants reporting mild depressive symptoms, positive affect (PA) overestimation as compared to PA underestimation was associated with better mental health (i.e. higher psychological well-being and lower depressive and anxiety symptoms) through the enhancement of resilience. Furthermore, positively biased participants (i.e. PA over estimators) benefited from greater well-being, even when compared to accurate individuals. Conclusions: While people appear to use retrospective PA overestimation as a strategy to enhance well-being and resilience, they are not likely to underestimate past negative experiences to feel better. Accordingly, owning an optimistic vision of the past may represent an adaptive "distortion" of reality that fosters people's mental health. The clinical implications of cultivating PA and learning strategies to regulate both negative and positive emotions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The looming cognitive style (LCS) is a cognitive bias to interpret and generate mental scenarios (i.e., mentally simulate) of threats as rapidly developing and approaching. A rapidly growing and approaching threat is likely to evoke a greater experience of urgency and anxiety in individuals compared to a threat that is interpreted to be static. Individuals who possess the LCS tend to perceive mentally simulated threats as rapidly intensifying and approaching, and this future-oriented prospection (or future-oriented thinking) is assumed to put them at risk of anxiety and depression. Methods: The current meta-analytic review examined the strength of the relations between the LCS and different subtypes of anxiety (i.e., nonspecific anxiety, social anxiety, obsessions-compulsions, fears, and worry) and depression. Articles were retrieved from online databases and unpublished data sets. A total of 141 effect sizes were obtained from 61 articles with 69 independent samples after selection criteria were met. Results: Random- and mixed-effects models indicated significant mean effect sizes of moderate magnitude. The relations between LCS and the anxiety subtypes were generally significantly stronger than that of depression, in particular for nonspecific anxiety, social anxiety, and worry. Additionally, sample type and study quality emerged as significant moderators for the effect sizes for certain symptoms. Conclusions: These results support the idea that LCS is a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor for various anxiety subtypes and that it is more specific to anxiety than to depression. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reducing one's tendency to interpret ambiguous situations negatively can improve symptoms of social anxiety. This study examines the effectiveness of a 1-week period of online Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretations (CBM-I) for socially anxious individuals. In addition to measuring intervention effectiveness through traditional trait measures, this study investigates whether associated state measures are sensitive to intervention effects in daily life. Methods: One-hundred and six participants scoring high on a measure of trait social anxiety completed two in-lab sessions separated by 5 weeks of ecological momentary assessment, with 51 participants randomly assigned to receive the online CBM-I intervention halfway through the 5-week monitoring period. Results: CBM-I training was more effective than monitoring alone in reducing trait negative interpretation bias, indicating target engagement. However, this change was not reliably accompanied by changes on other cognitive processing style outcomes. Further, while trait and state social anxiety symptoms and fear of negative evaluation improved, these changes were not unique to the CBM-I intervention group. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the challenges and opportunities associated with investigating intervention effects in daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While the presence of cognitive biases among body dissatisfied individuals is supported by the literature, the nuances of these biases have yet to be fully explored. The current study examined attentional processing of body-related stimuli as a function of body dissatisfaction using eye-tracking methodology and a modified spatial cueing paradigm to evaluate early and late stage processing patterns. Methods: Undergraduate women (N = 197) completed a decision-making task involving thin, fat, and control body images while eye gaze was recorded. Results: Reaction time analysis did not reveal a relationship between body dissatisfaction and disengagement difficulty from thin or fat body images when compared to control body images. However, analysis of eye gaze patterns revealed a relationship between body dissatisfaction and difficulty shifting visual attention away from thin body images. Conclusions: The findings provide partial support for an attentional bias for thin body images in body dissatisfied individuals. Moreover, the results provide further evidence for eye-tracking methodology as a more sensitive measure of cognitive biases than reaction time. Further examination of the relationship between cognitive biases and body dissatisfaction remains an important area of study as both are risk factors for eating disorders and can inform treatment interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of cognitive bias modification for interpretations in the social anxiety literature typically examine the effects of inducing a benign interpretation of ambiguous social situations. This study modifies and extends cognitive bias modification procedures to specifically alter interpretations of the self (CBM-IS) associated with social anxiety disorder and examined the effects of negative CBM-IS versus benign CBM-IS. Participants with elevated social anxiety were randomly allocated to a negative or benign CBM-IS condition. After CBM-IS training, participants were assessed on induced interpretations of the self, completed a speech task, and rated their performance. Negative self-esteem and anxiety were assessed at baseline, post-training, and post-speech. As predicted, negative CBM-IS induced a negative interpretation of the self whereas benign CBM-IS induced a benign interpretation of the self. There were also three key differential effects: (a) a baseline to post-training increase in negative self-esteem following negative CBM-IS but not benign CBM-IS, although the negative self-esteem difference between conditions was no longer evident at post-speech, (b) a greater increase in anxiety from post-training to post-speech following negative CBM-IS relative to benign CBM-IS, and (c) more negative self-ratings of speech performance following negative CBM-IS relative to benign CBM-IS. These findings validate the new CBM-IS procedures, and highlight the potential of these procedures for testing models of social anxiety disorder and for therapeutic intervention to reduce social anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The processing of facial expressions is biased in social anxiety (SA). We tested whether a brief situational context training in the school setting might be helpful in changing biased facial processing and reducing relevant symptoms in children with SA. A final sample of 118 children aged 8 to 13 years with high vs. low SA were randomly assigned to a training group or a control group without intervention. During the training, the children were exposed to images depicting negative facial expressions with masked and later unmasked backgrounds, in order to demonstrate that negative expressions can also occur in emotion-irrelevant contexts (e.g., during onion cutting). Especially for socially anxious children, the intervention effectively reduced harmful expectations during the presentation of images showing negative facial expressions. Moreover, socially anxious children having undertaken the training were able to perform a subjectively more challenging social evaluation task in front of the class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memory bias modification (MBM) is a relatively new approach at targeting biased processing—a central cognitive factor causing and maintaining depression. In this pilot study we aimed to develop a smartphone-based autobiographical memory training, a novel form of MBM. A total of 153 unselected participants were randomly allocated to one of three experimental training conditions (positive, negative or sham memory training) conducted over a period of three days. Autobiographical memory bias and depressive scores were assessed pre- and post-training, whilst recent event recall and explicit self-referent memory bias were assessed post-training. Positive memory bias significantly increased in the positive training condition, however memory bias did not significantly differ post-training between the three conditions. Participants who received positive training recalled a positive autobiographical event more frequently compared to the other conditions. No significant difference between conditions was found in the other outcomes, including symptoms. The novel smartphone-based MBM intervention seems apt to affect autobiographical memory of emotional material. Future research should explore its possible (therapeutic) application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies described a relation between anxiety-related cognitive biases in normally developing children and parents. The current study examined the familial aggregation of cognitive biases in children with anxiety disorders (N = 55) and their parents, with possible moderators and mediators as mechanisms underlying this aggregation. Cognitive biases for children were measured by the dot-probe task for attention bias and by ambiguous stories for interpretation bias. Mothers' (n = 50) and fathers' (n = 30) lifetime mood and anxiety disorders were assessed, along with their attention bias (dot-probe task) and self-reported rearing styles. Results showed an association between maternal attention bias and interpretation bias of children (r = 0.31, p = 0.032). However, this association was neither moderated by maternal lifetime mood or anxiety disorders nor mediated by maternal rearing styles. The familial aggregation of maternal attention bias and children's interpretation bias is presumably influenced by other factors than maternal mood or anxiety disorders or rearing styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of social anxiety with self-perceived and peer-reported likability, while controlling for the possible influence of depression. In total, 586 children (7 to 13 years) completed questionnaires to measure social anxiety, self-assessed likability, and depression. Peer-reported likability was derived from sociometric data on likability. As expected, children with higher self-reported social anxiety perceived themselves as less liked by classroom peers than children with lower self-reported social anxiety. In reality, children with higher levels of social anxiety were more liked by peers than children with lower levels of social anxiety. Multilinear regression analyses indicated no confounding effect of depression: Social anxiety, but not depression, was a significant predictor of biased perceived likability. Correcting the discrepancy between objective versus subjective likability may be a crucial target in the prevention and treatment of social anxiety disorders in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social anxiety is characterised by a bias to recall negative social autobiographical memories as well as anxious expectations about future social interactions. Neuroscientific research shows that a shared neural network underlies both temporal directions of autobiographical recall and future self-projections. Inspired by these findings, the current study tested the effectiveness of a Cognitive Bias Modification training to induce expectancies about the outcome of possible future social interactions (CBM-E). Its effects on interpretation bias, autobiographical recall and personal future projections were tested additionally. Participants read short social scenarios that could possibly happen to them in the future. Each scenario ended in word-fragment which, when completed, disambiguated the meaning of the scenario in either an optimistic or pessimistic way contingent on experimental condition. The CBM-E training was tested in 120 student participants and appeared effective in changing expectancies. The effect generalized to social interpretation bias (scrambled sentences). No direct effects of the training were found on autobiographical recall or future projections. However, participants trained to have pessimistic expectancies who had higher attachment anxiety showed a less positive interpretation bias related to the future. Furthermore, participants with high social anxiety reported less positive personal future projections when trained to have optimistic social expectancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depressive rumination, the tendency to engage in repetitive self-focus in response to distress, seems to be affected by a variety of cognitive biases that in turn maintain negative emotional states. The current study examined whether the difficulty in inhibiting attention to negative information contributes to rumination and to rumination-related biases in memory. Seventy-nine ruminators underwent a 3-week computer-based training, designed to increase either inhibition of negative words or attention to them. On immediate post-training trials, as well as on 2-week follow-up tests, we found evidence for transfer of inhibition training. Training effects also occurred on session-by-session and post-training measures of state rumination, but not on a measure of trait rumination, assessed 2 weeks later. Finally, participants who were trained to inhibit negative material subsequently showed less negative bias on a memory test. These findings further establish the causal role of biased inhibition in rumination, and substantiate the view of rumination as a habit that encourages people to perceive, interpret, and remember events in a repetitive self-focused manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive theories propose that aggression is associated with specific patterns of attention to social cues, and suggest that cognitive biases in attention and interpretation are interrelated, The current study tested whether these attention patterns can be altered using a single session of a novel gaze-contingent cognitive bias modification paradigm (CBM-A) and assessed the impact of this on interpretation bias, aggressive behavior and mood. University students (18–31 years) were randomly assigned to either a single session of positive training (n = 40) aimed at increasing attention to pro-social cues, or negative training (n = 40) aimed at increasing attention to negative cues. Results showed that the positive training indeed resulted in an increase in pro-social attention bias, while the negative training seemed not to have an effect on attention to negative cues. Both groups did not differ on their interpretations, mood levels, self-reported aggression and behavioral aggression. Findings suggest that this novel gaze-contingent CBM-A paradigm can indeed alter biased gaze processes, but may not impact interpretations, aggression and mood. The current study was conducted in a non-clinical sample, further research with a clinical aggressive sample, such as forensic patients is necessary to further explore these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) refers to the modification of cognitive biases, such as selectively attending to threatening information or interpreting information in a threatening way. CBM for attention (CBM-A) and interpretation (CBM-I) are efficacious in reducing anxiety vulnerability and anxiety symptoms. However, little research has investigated the potential synergies of these interventions. This study aimed to determine the relative efficacy of CBM-A, CBM-I, and combined CBM for reducing social anxiety symptoms and attenuating anxiety vulnerability in response to a social stressor task. Participants (N = 116) were randomly allocated to receive CBM-A, CBM-I, combined CBM, or placebo. Results revealed that CBM-I reduced negative interpretation bias and social anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, CBM-I improved speech performance on a social stressor task. However, CBM-A procedures did not modify attentional biases or anxiety vulnerability. These findings support the efficacy of CBM-I for social anxiety; however, no evidence for the efficacy of CBM-A was found, nor was the combined cognitive bias hypothesis supported in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with contamination concerns show aberrant interpretational and attentional processes. Yet, it is unclear whether threat-related associations play a causal role in anxiety symptoms and attentional bias. The objective of our study was to investigate if training implicit associations affects stress reactivity and attention in the context of contamination concerns. In a double-blind randomized design, we used a modified Implicit Associations Task (IAT) to train associations between contamination and danger in a non-clinical sample (N = 121). Dependent measures were a brief-IAT to assess changes in associations, contamination-related behavior approach tasks, and a spatial cueing task to measure attentional bias. Results show that training successfully modified implicit associations. However, there were no transfer effects on approach behavior or attention. Findings suggest that the modified IAT is a useful task for training implicit associations, but that transfer to other domains (attention and behavior) is limited. Limitations and future implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive models propose that elevated trait anxiety is associated with selective memory for negative information, although often no such effects are observed on tests of retrospective memory. One possibility is that no anxiety-linked biases in memory processes exists, however an alternative hypothesis is that trait anxiety may be associated with a bias in prospective memory, the process of remembering to carry out activities in the future. In two studies, high and low trait-anxious participants completed a prospective memory paradigm consisting of a lexical-decision task with embedded prospective memory targets. These targets signalled either negative (aversive noise burst) or benign (small monetary gain) future events. In both studies, results showed no significant effect of trait anxiety on prospective memory performance, and no interaction with target type. Thus, these results are in line with the research on anxiety-linked biases in retrospective memory, showing no evidence for a bias in prospective memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with aggression problems tend to interpret other's intentions as hostile in ambiguous social situations. Among clinically referred children with aggressive behavior problems, this hostile attribution style may be relatively rigid and difficult to change, due to prevalent histories of aversive social experience and/or personal vulnerability. The present study examined the effectiveness of a cognitive bias modification (CBM) training to reduce hostile interpretations of facial expressions in clinically referred aggressive boys. We conducted two experiments: Both Study 1 (N = 59, Mage = 11.8) and Study 2 (N = 75, Mage = 11.5) showed that the training effectively reduced hostile interpretation of facial expressions. However, we found no generalization to relevant other outcomes, including state anger and aggression (assessed using a multi-method approach), and hostile attribution assessed in a game context. Taken together, this research illustrates the potential of employing the CBM procedure to reduce aggressive boys' hostile attributions: The procedure is time and cost-efficient, and relatively easily implemented. Despite this potential, the context-dependency and generalization of effects should be better understood before the procedure can be taken to scale in clinical populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive biases have been suggested to play a crucial role in the etiology and maintenance of social anxiety disorder (SAD). The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of exposure therapy on attention- and approach-avoidance bias in SAD. In a randomized controlled trial, we compared changes from pre- to posttreatment in both biases in patients receiving stand-alone exposure therapy to a waiting-list control condition comprising 60 participants (Mage = 36.9 years) with SAD with heterogeneous social fears. Before and after treatment, attention bias was assessed using the dot probe task and approach-avoidance bias using the approach avoidance task. Results revealed that pre- to posttreatment changes in attention bias and approach-avoidance bias in exposure therapy did not significantly differ from changes in the waiting-list condition. Limitations and potential implications of the current results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although suicidal ideation is one of the most consistent symptoms across recurrent episodes of depression, the mechanisms underpinning its maintenance are poorly understood. In order to develop effective treatments for suicidally depressed patients, understanding what maintains suicidal distress is critical. We hypothesised that Thought-Action Fusion (TAF), i.e., to assume that having a thought has real world consequences, originally described in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, might be a bias in recurrently suicidally depressed people. To assess this, we revised the original TAF scale, and assessed TAF in three samples: healthy controls, recurrently depressed individuals with no history of suicidality (D-NS) and individuals with a history of recurrent suicidal depression (D-S). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a three-factor solution of TAF: (1) TAF for uncontrollable events, (2) self-suicidal TAF for suicidal acts related to oneself, and (3) TAF for positive controllable events. Compared to healthy controls, the D-NS group reported significantly higher total TAF, TAF uncontrollable, and TAF self-suicidal subscales, whilst positive controllable TAF was lower compared to healthy controls. Both D-S and D-NS samples reported higher TAF for suicidal thought compared to healthy controls, i.e., believing that having suicidal thoughts means they will act on them, however in the context of low mood this became more pronounced for the D-S group. These findings suggest that targeting TAF both in suicidal and non-suicidal depression has merit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive Bias Modification to reduce threat interpretations (CBM-I) is a computer-based paradigm designed to train a less negative interpretation bias that has shown some success in the lab, but results for web-based CBM-I are often mixed. To test possible explanations for the poorer results online, participants high in social anxiety (N = 379) were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to complete a single-session, proof-of-principle study to investigate: (1) whether web-based CBM-I can shift interpretations of social situations to be less negative and reduce anticipatory social anxiety, (2) whether a common “control” condition used in CBM-I studies is in fact inert by incorporating an alternate control condition, and (2) whether priming anxious imagery prior to training moderates CBM-I’s effects. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three training conditions: all positive, half positive/half negative, or neutral unemotional scenarios. Participants also received an anxious or neutral imagery prime before training. Although results were somewhat mixed across outcome measures, findings generally suggested that participants exhibited less negative interpretations of ambiguous social scenarios following positive training with an anxious imagery prime. There was also some evidence that the neutral training condition was associated with less negative interpretations, and evidence that the half positive/half negative training condition led to the least anticipatory anxiety, especially when paired with anxious imagery. Findings are discussed in light of different training effects for near- and far-transfer outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental paradigms used in affective and clinical science often use stimuli such as images, scenarios, videos, or words to elicit emotional responses in study participants. Choosing appropriate stimuli that are highly evocative is essential to the study of emotional processes in both healthy and clinical populations. Selecting one set of stimuli that will be relevant for all subjects can be challenging because not every person responds the same way to a given stimulus. Machine learning can facilitate the personalization of such stimuli. The current study applied a novel statistical approach called a recommender algorithm to the selection of highly threatening words for a trauma-exposed population (N = 837). Participants rated 513 threatening words, and we trained a user-user collaborative filtering recommender algorithm. The algorithm uses similarities between individuals to predict ratings for unrated words. We compared threat ratings for algorithm-based word selection to a random word set, a word set previously used in research, and trauma-specific word sets. Algorithm-selected personalized words were more threatening compared to non-personalized words with large effects (ds = 2.10-2.92). Recommender algorithms can automate the personalization of stimuli from a large pool of possible stimuli to maximize emotional reactivity in research paradigms. These methods also hold potential for the personalization of behavioral treatments administered remotely where a provider is not available to tailor an intervention to the individual. The word personalization algorithm is available for use online (https://threat-word-predictor.herokuapp.com/). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attentional biases, particularly difficulty disengaging, have been found in contamination obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and may be a maintaining factor. Attentional bias modification (ABM) may reduce this bias and avoidance behavior. This study examined attentional biases in 54 individuals with contamination OCD symptomatology and whether ABM reduces biases and symptoms. Participants completed one 30 min session of either ABM training or a control task and a spatial cueing task before and after to assess attentional bias. Questionnaires and behavioral tasks were also completed. Participants returned for a follow up 1 month later. As expected, there was evidence of difficulty disengaging from threats directly and indirectly associated with disease. Attention training led to a reduction in this bias, which was maintained for 1 month. However, there was no improvement in avoidance or contamination fear on a behavioral task, contamination OCD symptoms, safety behaviors and anxiety. Implications for treatment of OCD are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research studies applying cognitive bias modification of attention (CBM-A) and interpretations (CBM-I) training to reduce adolescent anxiety by targeting associated cognitive biases have found mixed results. This study presents a new multi-session, combined bias CBM package, which uses a mix of training techniques and stimuli to enhance user-engagement. We present preliminary data on its viability, acceptability and effectiveness on reducing symptoms and biases using an A-B case series design. 19 adolescents with elevated social anxiety reported on their social anxiety, real-life social behaviours, general anxiety, depression, and cognitive biases at pre/post time-points during a 2-week baseline phase and a 2-week intervention phase. Retention rate was high. Adolescents also reported finding the CBM training helpful, particularly CBM-I. Greater reductions in social anxiety, negative social behaviour, and general anxiety and depression, characterised the intervention but not baseline phase. There was a significant correlation between interpretation bias change and social anxiety symptom change. Our enhanced multi-session CBM programme delivered in a school-setting appeared viable and acceptable. Training-associated improvements in social anxiety will require further verification in a study with an active control condition/group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metacognitive training (MCT) for psychosis is a group intervention targeted at reducing positive symptoms in schizophrenia through an improvement of cognitive biases in these patients. Despite evidence for its feasibility and efficacy, the recommendations for including or excluding patients from MCT have so far been largely based on anecdotal clinical wisdom rather than empirical evidence. Predictors and moderators of outcome are presently unknown. We reanalyzed data from a large randomized controlled trial, for which 150 patients were randomly assigned to either MCT or CogPack (neurocognitive training) and followed up for up to 3 years. We explored which demographic variables, baseline symptoms, and cognitive biases would predict overall outcome and specific treatment benefits in MCT. Low self-esteem and social anxiety at baseline as well as positive appraisal of the intervention were consistently associated with improved outcome in MCT relative to CogPack. Among other variables, improvement of cognitive biases and selective attention during the intervention period as well as number of sessions attended were general predictors of positive outcome, irrespective of the type of intervention. Patients with cognitive biases and psychological strain (e.g., low self-esteem and quality of life) paired with social problems may represent an ideal target group for MCT. The present findings await replication in independent samples and may not generalise to other forms of metacognitive training (e.g., MCT for depression) or individualized metacognitive intervention for psychosis (MCT+). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has found that cognitive biases in attention, interpretation, and memory play an important role in depression. However, there is little knowledge of the interplay between these biases in clinical depression. The present study was aimed to model different pathways of relation among attention, interpretation and autobiographical memory biases, and to examine their contribution to account for depression status outcomes. Cognitive biases were evaluated in a sample comprising 22 currently-depressed and 36 never-depressed individuals representing a broad range of depression severity levels. Cognitive biases were assessed by three separate tasks using different types of stimuli. Our main finding was a significant indirect effect model in which attention bias to negative faces was linked to greater negative memory bias via its association with negative interpretation bias. Within this model, the specific pathway between attention bias to negative faces and negative interpretation bias accounted both for significant variance in depression severity as well as for depression diagnostic status. These findings increase our understanding of the complex interplay between cognitive mechanisms involved in clinical depression and highlight hypothetical pathways relevant for future interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to provide a preliminary test of the efficacy of a brief cognitive bias modification program for reducing approach bias in adult smokers motivated to quit. Participants were 52 smokers who were randomly assigned to four sessions of approach bias modification training (AAT) or sham training. Participants were asked to make a self-guided quit attempt upon completion of the final training session. Approach bias was assessed at baseline and at the end of each session, and days abstinent was assessed 1-week following the quit attempt. Individuals assigned to the AAT training condition evidenced significantly greater reductions in approach bias relative to those in the sham condition ( p < .001). Baseline approach bias did not moderate the between-group effect ( ps > 0.41); however, higher levels of approach bias at baseline were associated with greater approach bias reduction over time irrespective of condition ( p < .001). Consistent with hypothesis, the reduction in approach bias during the intervention period was significantly related to the number of days abstinent following the quit attempt ( p = .033). The present study extends recent work in alcohol use disorders by showing that approach bias reduction, in this case for smoking-related stimuli, may also facilitate smoking cessation. Clinical and research implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with high levels of worry are more likely than others to attend to possible threats, although the extent of top-down attentional control processes on this bias is unknown. We compared the performance of high ( n = 26) and low worriers ( n = 26) on a probe discrimination task designed to assess attention to threat cues, under cognitive load or no-load conditions. The expected difference between groups was confirmed, with high worriers being more likely to attend to threat cues than low worriers. Importantly however, there were no significant effects involving condition (cognitive load vs. no-load), nor any significant association with self-perceived attentional control ability. These results suggest that pathological worriers are more likely to attend to threat than are individuals with low levels of worry, regardless of task demands on limited cognitive control resources. This finding is consistent with the dominance of habitual bottom-up influences over top-down control processes in biased attention to threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cognitive Bias Questionnaire for Psychosis (CBQp) is a valid selfreport instrument for assessing cognitive biases in psychosis. To validate the Japanese version of the CBQp, and to investigate the relationships between CBQp and various schizophrenia symptoms, such as positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and disorganized/autistic preoccupation. Patients with schizophrenia ( n = 111), patients with depression ( n = 40), and healthy controls ( n = 35) were recruited. Using these samples, the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of CBQp were tested. The CBQp total scores had good reliability while the two subscales had moderate reliability. Furthermore, the scales had adequate concurrent validity, given that it had significant correlations with positive symptoms, and could accurately distinguish between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Novel findings were that the CBQp total scores were positively correlated with disorganized/autistic preoccupation. Furthermore, this study using a Japanese sample showed marginally significant correlations between the cognitive biases of threating event and severity of delusions, while this relationship was not seen in a previous study that used a Western sample. This difference could be because of the 'shame culture', which is explained as a characteristic of Japanese. The Japanese version of the CBQp was as reliable and valid as the original. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]