Single session of interpretation bias modification helped to improve fear of COVID-19 and COVID-19-related post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Background: Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are frequently observed in those who have experienced trauma events like the COVID-19 outbreak. The cognitive model of PTSS highlights the relationship between PTSS and negative interpretation bias.

Objective: The present study aimed to modify interpretation bias and to improve PTSS as well as PTSS-related fear.

Methods: 59 participants with high PTSS levels were recruited and randomly allocated to either the interpretation modification programme (IMP) intervention group or the interpretation control condition (ICC) control group. PTSS, negative interpretation bias, fear of COVID-19, and depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed before and after training.

Findings: Intention-to-treat analyses showed that compared with ICC, participants receiving IMP generated fewer negative interpretations for ambiguous scenarios, and the group-by-time interaction effect was significant. IMP also illustrated a more significant change in fear after training compared with ICC. Although no effects of training conditions were found on PTSS, the interaction of training conditions with fear reduction could predict PTSS improvement.

Conclusions: IMP could improve negative interpretations and fear related to COVID-19 and might help to ameliorate PTSS.

Clinical implications: The role of PTSS-related emotion should be considered when exploring the effectiveness of IMP. IMP is a flexible approach that can be tailored to the specific characteristics of the traumatic event, which makes it suitable for a broader range of traumatised individuals.