NCT01888653

Attention-Bias Modification Treatment for PTSD

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 50 (actual)
• Sponsor: Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc. · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Emerging research implicates biased attention to threat in the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. Recent findings demonstrate significant associations between attention bias and stress vulnerability. This work has motivated the development of a novel therapy, attention-bias-modification (ABM) treatment . ABM is designed to implicitly modify patients' biased threat attendance via computerized training protocols. Emerging evidence indicates that ABM is effective in modifying threat-related attention biases and in ameliorating anxiety symptoms. However, it is unclear whether ABM is efficacious for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present pilot study is a double blind trial that seeks to examine feasibility, acceptability, safety, efficacy, and risk/benefit ratio of ABM in individuals with PTSD. In addition this pilot study seeks to identify specific genes associated with anxiety disorders and to examine whether these can predict the success of the ABM.

Detailed description

ABM is designed to implicitly modify patients' biased threat attendance via computerized training protocols. Emerging evidence indicates that ABM is effective in modifying threat-related attention biases and in ameliorating anxiety symptoms.

Conditions

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Attention Bias Modification (ABM)	The training protocol consisted of 160 trials per session with 120 angry-neutral and 40 neutral-neutral trials. Each participant was trained with an alternative set of faces to the one used in the assessment task (i.e. if measured with set A then trained with set B and vice-versa). In the ABM condition, training was contin- gent on the bias measured at pre-treatment. Specifically, for those showing a bias toward the threat, the target appeared at the neutral-face location in 100% of the threat-neutral trials, while for those showing a bias away from the threat, the target appeared at the threat-face location in 100% of the threat-neutral trials.
BEHAVIORAL	Attention control training (ACT)	In the ACT condition, threat- face location, probe location, and probe type were fully counter- balanced with no contingency between face valence and probe location, thus resembling the assessment task.

Timeline

• Start date: 2013-05-01
• Primary completion: 2018-04-02
• Completion: 2018-04-02
• First posted: 2013-06-28
• Last updated: 2022-04-13
• Results posted: 2022-04-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States