Attend to the positive while feeling anxious: The effect of state anxiety on the effectiveness of Attentional Bias Modification

Background and objectives

Elevating state anxiety during Attentional Bias Modification (ABM) may improve its effectiveness by matching the emotional state experienced during the training with the emotional state under which it is intended that the learned pattern of attentional bias will subsequently operate. This study examined whether inducing elevated levels of state anxiety during ABM enhanced the effectiveness in modifying an attentional bias to socially threatening information.

Methods

Participants (n = 160) were randomized to a single session of attend-negative or attend-positive dot-probe training which was interspersed with either a state anxiety induction or control condition. Attentional bias was assessed post-training by means of a dot-probe task and a visual search task.

Results

ABM was effective in modifying attentional bias in the direction of the allocated training condition as assessed with a dot-probe task, but did not generalize to a visual search task. Importantly, state anxiety did not moderate ABM's training effects.

Limitations

Although the state anxiety manipulation successfully induced state anxiety, state anxiety levels were modest which potentially limited the chance to detect a moderating effect of state anxiety.

Conclusions

Although these findings suggest that inducing state anxiety during ABM does not improve its effectiveness, more studies are needed to confirm this preliminary conclusion. Future studies should examine whether larger state anxiety elevations and state anxiety manipulations that are more integrated into the ABM procedure do enhance training effects.