Many studies have investigated differences in attention allocation to threat between socially anxious individuals and healthy controls in adult and child samples. The extent to which differences exist within the group of socially anxious individuals and whether these have a predictive value for the extent of symptom reduction after cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been studied less until to date and yielded inconsistent findings, particularly in child samples.
Methods
The present study investigated whether three different indices of biased attention, measured at pretreatment by eye-tracking, were associated with differences in response to a 12-session exposure-based group CBT in a sample of 41 children with social anxiety disorder (SAD).
Results
In linear regression analyses neither initial vigilance nor initial maintenance nor attentional avoidance predicted symptom reductions after CBT. Children who no longer met diagnostic criteria after treatment did not differ from those who did not fully remit in terms of initial vigilance and attentional avoidance (d < .36). With regard to initial maintenance of attention to threat, the analysis revealed a large but statistically non-significant effect between both groups (d = .81).
Conclusion
Initial maintenance of attention to threat may be beneficial for the treatment of social anxiety. However, the evidence in our study is only weak and further research is needed before clear implications can be drawn.
{"title":"Can attentional biases predict outcome of CBT in children with social anxiety disorder?","authors":"Steffen Schmidtendorf , Julia Asbrand , Brunna Tuschen-Caffier , Nina Heinrichs","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102029","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102029","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Many studies have investigated differences in attention allocation to threat between socially anxious individuals and healthy controls in adult and child samples. The extent to which differences exist within the group of socially anxious individuals and whether these have a predictive value for the extent of symptom reduction after cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been studied less until to date and yielded inconsistent findings, particularly in child samples.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The present study investigated whether three different indices of biased attention, measured at pretreatment by eye-tracking, were associated with differences in response to a 12-session exposure-based group CBT in a sample of 41 children with social anxiety disorder (SAD).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>In linear regression analyses neither initial vigilance nor initial maintenance nor attentional avoidance predicted symptom reductions after CBT. Children who no longer met diagnostic criteria after treatment did not differ from those who did not fully remit in terms of initial vigilance and attentional avoidance (<em>d</em> < .36). With regard to initial maintenance of attention to threat, the analysis revealed a large but statistically non-significant effect between both groups (<em>d</em> = .81).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Initial maintenance of attention to threat may be beneficial for the treatment of social anxiety. However, the evidence in our study is only weak and further research is needed before clear implications can be drawn.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102029"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143548240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-02-15DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102020
Eleanor Leigh , David Clark , Kenny Chiu
Background
Cognitive Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder (CT-SAD) based on the Clark & Wells model is a complex intervention comprised of a series of therapeutic elements. Two of the key ingredients are the self-focused attention and safety behaviour experiment and video feedback. The present study examined the effects of these two therapeutic procedures in adolescents with SAD, as well as common themes of the young people's social fears and negative self-images.
Method
35 participants with a diagnosis of SAD completed internet-delivered CT-SAD as part of a randomised controlled trial. We conducted a series of paired samples t-tests to evaluate the effects of the self-focused attention and safety behaviour experiment and video feedback. We applied Latent Dirichlet Allocation to identify latent topics based on participants' description of their social fears and negative self-images that were elicited during the course of these therapy procedures.
Results
Participants reported lower anxiety and more positive self-appraisals when focusing externally and dropping safety behaviours, compared to when focusing internally and using safety behaviours (ps < 0.0025). After they watched the videos compared to before, they reported more positive appraisals of their appearance and performance (ps < 0.0025). The differences in these outcomes were significantly larger when they focused internally and used safety behaviours, compared to focusing externally and dropping safety behaviours (ps < 0.0025). Topic modelling identified six social fear topics and five negative self-image topics.
Conclusions
Self-focused attention, safety behaviours, and negative self-imagery are modifiable with the ‘self-focused attention and safety behaviour experiment’ and ‘video feedback’ as part of internet delivered CT-SAD.
{"title":"Examining two of the ingredients of Cognitive therapy for adolescent social anxiety disorder: Back-translation from a treatment trial","authors":"Eleanor Leigh , David Clark , Kenny Chiu","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102020","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102020","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Cognitive Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder (CT-SAD) based on the Clark & Wells model is a complex intervention comprised of a series of therapeutic elements. Two of the key ingredients are the <em>self-focused attention and safety behaviour experiment</em> and <em>video feedback</em>. The present study examined the effects of these two therapeutic procedures in adolescents with SAD, as well as common themes of the young people's social fears and negative self-images.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>35 participants with a diagnosis of SAD completed internet-delivered CT-SAD as part of a randomised controlled trial. We conducted a series of paired samples t-tests to evaluate the effects of the <em>self-focused attention and safety behaviour experiment</em> and <em>video feedback</em>. We applied Latent Dirichlet Allocation to identify latent topics based on participants' description of their social fears and negative self-images that were elicited during the course of these therapy procedures.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Participants reported lower anxiety and more positive self-appraisals when focusing externally and dropping safety behaviours, compared to when focusing internally and using safety behaviours (<em>ps</em> < 0.0025). After they watched the videos compared to before, they reported more positive appraisals of their appearance and performance (<em>ps</em> < 0.0025). The differences in these outcomes were significantly larger when they focused internally and used safety behaviours, compared to focusing externally and dropping safety behaviours (<em>ps</em> < 0.0025). Topic modelling identified six social fear topics and five negative self-image topics.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Self-focused attention, safety behaviours, and negative self-imagery are modifiable with the ‘self-focused attention and safety behaviour experiment’ and ‘video feedback’ as part of internet delivered CT-SAD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102020"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143429051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anxiety is prevalent among pregnant women with suspected fetal malformation. Hence, this study aimed to assess the effectiveness of IECBT in alleviating pregnancy-specific stress and anxiety in anxious women with suspected fetal malformation.
Methods
A randomized four-arm parallel-group controlled trial was conducted involving 140 pregnant women displaying anxiety symptoms before 20 weeks of gestation and suspected fetal malformation. Participants were randomly allocated into four groups, each consisting of 35 women: IECBT alone, IECBT with booster sessions, IECBT with spouse participation, and IECBT combined with spouse participation and booster sessions. The IECBT intervention comprised six 50-min therapist-led sessions for women, with an additional 20-min session for men in the IECBT with spouse participation group. Those in the IECBT with booster sessions groups received six monthly 50-min sessions post-intervention until delivery. Five questionnaires—Spielberger's State Anxiety, Pregnancy-Specific Stress, Uncertainty Intolerance, and Emotion Regulation—were administered before the trial, upon completion of the 6-week intervention, and at 3-month and 6-month post-trial follow-ups.
Results
The IECBT interventions led to significant improvements in anxiety symptoms, pregnancy-specific stress, uncertainty intolerance, and emotional regulation after therapy, with these improvements sustained at the 3-month and 6-month post-treatment assessments. However, no superiority was observed among the four IECBT models across the three measurement intervals—post-trial, 3-month, and 6-month follow-ups regarding outcome improvement. Additionally, participants expressed high satisfaction levels with all IECBT approaches, with no significant differences noted among the four groups.
Limitation
IECBT with spouse participation and IECBT with booster sessions were not therapist-guided, results might stem from the masculism culture of the population and their low responsibility and assistance in solving pregnant women's problems, especially during pregnancy, the lack of long-term follow-up of treatment effectiveness and postnatal psychological outcomes with or without fetal malformation.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that the four models of IECBT improved anxiety, stress, uncertainty, and dysregulated emotions in women with suspected fetal malformation, and such improvements remained stable up to six months after the intervention.
{"title":"Efficacy of internet-based emotion-focused cognitive behavior therapy (IECBT) in improving stress and anxiety of women with suspected fetal malformation: A randomized controlled trial","authors":"Sajede Aligoltabar , Fatemeh Nasiri-Amiri , Soraya Khafri , Hajar Adib-Rad , Shahnaz Barat , Zeinab Pahlavan , Seyedsina Taheriotaghsara , Mostafa Rayati , Mahbobeh Faramarzi","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102033","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102033","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background and objectives</h3><div>Anxiety is prevalent among pregnant women with suspected fetal malformation. Hence, this study aimed to assess the effectiveness of IECBT in alleviating pregnancy-specific stress and anxiety in anxious women with suspected fetal malformation.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A randomized four-arm parallel-group controlled trial was conducted involving 140 pregnant women displaying anxiety symptoms before 20 weeks of gestation and suspected fetal malformation. Participants were randomly allocated into four groups, each consisting of 35 women: IECBT alone, IECBT with booster sessions, IECBT with spouse participation, and IECBT combined with spouse participation and booster sessions. The IECBT intervention comprised six 50-min therapist-led sessions for women, with an additional 20-min session for men in the IECBT with spouse participation group. Those in the IECBT with booster sessions groups received six monthly 50-min sessions post-intervention until delivery. Five questionnaires—Spielberger's State Anxiety, Pregnancy-Specific Stress, Uncertainty Intolerance, and Emotion Regulation—were administered before the trial, upon completion of the 6-week intervention, and at 3-month and 6-month post-trial follow-ups.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The IECBT interventions led to significant improvements in anxiety symptoms, pregnancy-specific stress, uncertainty intolerance, and emotional regulation after therapy, with these improvements sustained at the 3-month and 6-month post-treatment assessments. However, no superiority was observed among the four IECBT models across the three measurement intervals—post-trial, 3-month, and 6-month follow-ups regarding outcome improvement. Additionally, participants expressed high satisfaction levels with all IECBT approaches, with no significant differences noted among the four groups.</div></div><div><h3>Limitation</h3><div>IECBT with spouse participation and IECBT with booster sessions were not therapist-guided, results might stem from the masculism culture of the population and their low responsibility and assistance in solving pregnant women's problems, especially during pregnancy, the lack of long-term follow-up of treatment effectiveness and postnatal psychological outcomes with or without fetal malformation.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The findings suggest that the four models of IECBT improved anxiety, stress, uncertainty, and dysregulated emotions in women with suspected fetal malformation, and such improvements remained stable up to six months after the intervention.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102033"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143807505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-03-16DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102031
Charlene L.M. Lam , Andy S. Hin , Luciana N.S. Lau , Zhiqi Zhang , Chantel J. Leung
Objectives
Cognitive bias modification for interpretation bias (CBM-I) is an effective low-intensity intervention that targets interpretation biases associated with the development and maintenance of social anxiety. Few studies to-date have examined the extent to which individual mental imagery ability affects the efficacy of CBM-I.
Methods
A total of 666 individuals were screened. Seventy-two participants with high levels of social anxiety and elevated baseline interpretation bias were randomly assigned to either CBM-I (n = 36) or control groups (n = 36). They completed 5-day internet-delivered training in modifying their interpretation bias associated with ambiguous social scenarios (CBM-I) or reading neutral text passages (control).
Results
Intent-to-treat analyses revealed that participants in the CBM-I group had a significant reduction in their interpretation bias compared to the controls. They had a reduction of 11 %–18 % on the social anxiety measures. Participants’ mental imagery ability was significantly associated with the reduction of interpretation bias and social anxiety symptoms in the CBM-I group. Specifically, participants with higher mental imagery ability in emotional feelings benefited the most from the intervention.
Conclusions
CBM-I is an efficacious intervention for modulating social anxiety-related biases and symptoms. Mental imagery ability facilitated the efficacy of CBM-I.
{"title":"Mental imagery abilities in different modalities moderate the efficacy of cognitive bias modification for interpretation bias in social anxiety","authors":"Charlene L.M. Lam , Andy S. Hin , Luciana N.S. Lau , Zhiqi Zhang , Chantel J. Leung","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102031","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102031","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>Cognitive bias modification for interpretation bias (CBM-I) is an effective low-intensity intervention that targets interpretation biases associated with the development and maintenance of social anxiety. Few studies to-date have examined the extent to which individual mental imagery ability affects the efficacy of CBM-I.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A total of 666 individuals were screened. Seventy-two participants with high levels of social anxiety and elevated baseline interpretation bias were randomly assigned to either CBM-I (n = 36) or control groups (n = 36). They completed 5-day internet-delivered training in modifying their interpretation bias associated with ambiguous social scenarios (CBM-I) or reading neutral text passages (control).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Intent-to-treat analyses revealed that participants in the CBM-I group had a significant reduction in their interpretation bias compared to the controls. They had a reduction of 11 %–18 % on the social anxiety measures. Participants’ mental imagery ability was significantly associated with the reduction of interpretation bias and social anxiety symptoms in the CBM-I group. Specifically, participants with higher mental imagery ability in emotional feelings benefited the most from the intervention.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>CBM-I is an efficacious intervention for modulating social anxiety-related biases and symptoms. Mental imagery ability facilitated the efficacy of CBM-I.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102031"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143759143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-04-24DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102039
Maria Elena Navarra , Sofia Tagini , Alessandro Mauro , Federica Scarpina
Bodily weight is a physical characteristic involved in body dissatisfaction. We investigated whether the cognitive body representation can be updated to include weight variations using the Rubber Hand Illusion. Moreover, we aimed to explore the role of the individual expression of weight concerns and fat-phobia.
Twenty-eight healthy-weight women participated to a Rubber Hand Illusion study, in which an over- and an under-weight rubber hand were tested together with a normal-weigh rubber hand. We verified the effect of hand's weight on the proprioceptive drift and the subjective experience of illusion. Moreover, we measured the individual expression of weight concerns.
As with the normal-weight rubber hand, both the underweight and overweight ones produced significant rubber hand illusion effects, as quantified by proprioceptive judgments and questionnaire ratings. Moreover, higher levels of body image concerns were linked to higher shift towards the under-weight rubber hand, as well as higher expression of fat-phobia increased higher illusory subjective experience towards the normal-weight hand.
Hands of different weights can be successfully embodied, in line with previous evidence relative to whole body illusions. Nevertheless, we underlined the role of weight concerns in modulating the illusion. Our results are meaningful for those psychopathological conditions characterized by profound changes in individual weight.
{"title":"Investigating the role of weight in body representation through the Rubber Hand Illusion: when individual weight concerns matter","authors":"Maria Elena Navarra , Sofia Tagini , Alessandro Mauro , Federica Scarpina","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102039","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102039","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bodily weight is a physical characteristic involved in body dissatisfaction. We investigated whether the cognitive body representation can be updated to include weight variations using the Rubber Hand Illusion. Moreover, we aimed to explore the role of the individual expression of weight concerns and fat-phobia.</div><div>Twenty-eight healthy-weight women participated to a Rubber Hand Illusion study, in which an over- and an under-weight rubber hand were tested together with a normal-weigh rubber hand. We verified the effect of hand's weight on the proprioceptive drift and the subjective experience of illusion. Moreover, we measured the individual expression of weight concerns.</div><div>As with the normal-weight rubber hand, both the underweight and overweight ones produced significant rubber hand illusion effects, as quantified by proprioceptive judgments and questionnaire ratings. Moreover, higher levels of body image concerns were linked to higher shift towards the under-weight rubber hand, as well as higher expression of fat-phobia increased higher illusory subjective experience towards the normal-weight hand.</div><div>Hands of different weights can be successfully embodied, in line with previous evidence relative to whole body illusions. Nevertheless, we underlined the role of weight concerns in modulating the illusion. Our results are meaningful for those psychopathological conditions characterized by profound changes in individual weight.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102039"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143878568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-02-24DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102028
Schauenburg Gesche, Moritz Steffen, Hottenrott Birgit, Miegel Franziska, Scheunemann Jakob, Jelinek Lena
Background and objectives
Increasing evidence confirms the significant involvement of disgust in contamination-related obsessive-compulsive disorder (C-OCD). More insights into the role of disgust within cognitive biases in OCD may illuminate the psychopathology and corresponding subdimensions or subtypes. The present study introduces a new approach adopted from psycholinguistic research to investigate biases in word association networks in C-OCD versus other OCD symptom dimensions (nC-OCD).
Method
Individuals with OCD (N = 70; N = 42 with C-OCD, N = 28 with nC- OCD) and healthy controls (HC; N = 36) were asked to produce up to five verbal associations with cue words. Written forms of the recorded associations were analyzed with word lexica providing rating norms for valence, arousal, potency, fear, and disgust. We examined bivariate correlations between OCI-R subscale “Washing” and affective variables across all participants. We investigated group differences in semantic biases in the association responses to these five variables given to standardized (three-group comparison: C-OCD vs. nC-OCD vs. HC) and individual (two-group comparison: C-OCD vs. nC-OCD) cue words.
Results
“Washing” and disgust showed the strongest correlation. The three-group comparison revealed more negative valence and disgust-related associations for C-OCD as compared to HC and nC-OCD. Associations generated by the C-OCD group were more pronounced in all emotion variables as compared to the nC-OCD group. Limitations: Rating norms did not cover all word associations, resulting in missing data. The OCD groups were unbalanced due to post-hoc allocation.
Conclusions
Results support the assumption of differentially biased semantic networks across the OCD spectrum, with greater negativity and disgust in C-OCD.
背景与目的越来越多的证据证实了厌恶在污染相关强迫症（C-OCD）中的重要作用。对厌恶在强迫症认知偏差中的作用的进一步了解，可能有助于阐明强迫症的精神病理学及其相应的子维度或亚型。本研究引入了一种新的心理语言学研究方法来研究C-OCD与其他强迫症症状维度（nC-OCD）的词关联网络偏差。方法强迫症患者70例；C-OCD组N = 42， nC- OCD组N = 28)和健康对照(HC；N = 36)被要求与提示词产生最多五个口头联想。对记录的联想的书面形式进行了分析，词汇词典提供了效价、唤起、效力、恐惧和厌恶的评级标准。我们检查了所有参与者的OCI-R子量表“洗涤”和情感变量之间的双变量相关性。我们研究了标准化（三组比较：C-OCD vs. nC-OCD vs. HC）和个体（两组比较：C-OCD vs. nC-OCD）提示词对这五个变量的关联反应中语义偏差的组间差异。结果“洗涤”与厌恶的相关性最强。三组比较发现C-OCD的负效价和厌恶相关的关联比HC和nC-OCD更多。与nC-OCD组相比，C-OCD组在所有情绪变量中产生的关联更为明显。局限性：评分规范没有涵盖所有的词关联，导致数据缺失。强迫症组由于事后分配而不平衡。结论研究结果支持了强迫症谱系中存在差异偏倚语义网络的假设，C-OCD中存在更多的消极和厌恶情绪。
{"title":"A psycholinguistic investigation of biased semantic networks in contamination-related obsessive-compulsive disorder","authors":"Schauenburg Gesche, Moritz Steffen, Hottenrott Birgit, Miegel Franziska, Scheunemann Jakob, Jelinek Lena","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102028","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102028","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background and objectives</h3><div>Increasing evidence confirms the significant involvement of disgust in contamination-related obsessive-compulsive disorder (C-OCD). More insights into the role of disgust within cognitive biases in OCD may illuminate the psychopathology and corresponding subdimensions or subtypes. The present study introduces a new approach adopted from psycholinguistic research to investigate biases in word association networks in C-OCD versus other OCD symptom dimensions (nC-OCD).</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>Individuals with OCD (<em>N</em> = 70; <em>N</em> = 42 with C-OCD, <em>N</em> = 28 with nC- OCD) and healthy controls (HC; <em>N</em> = 36) were asked to produce up to five verbal associations with cue words. Written forms of the recorded associations were analyzed with word lexica providing rating norms for valence, arousal, potency, fear, and disgust. We examined bivariate correlations between OCI-R subscale “Washing” and affective variables across all participants. We investigated group differences in semantic biases in the association responses to these five variables given to standardized (three-group comparison: C-OCD vs. nC-OCD vs. HC) and individual (two-group comparison: C-OCD vs. nC-OCD) cue words.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>“Washing” and disgust showed the strongest correlation. The three-group comparison revealed more negative valence and disgust-related associations for C-OCD as compared to HC and nC-OCD. Associations generated by the C-OCD group were more pronounced in all emotion variables as compared to the nC-OCD group. <em>Limitations</em>: Rating norms did not cover all word associations, resulting in missing data. The OCD groups were unbalanced due to post-hoc allocation.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Results support the assumption of differentially biased semantic networks across the OCD spectrum, with greater negativity and disgust in C-OCD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102028"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143548431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Attentional bias (AB) is characterized by preferential cognitive and emotional processing of mood-congruent stimuli and considered a central mechanism in mood disorders. Considerable research has focused on improving AB measures to enhance mechanistic understanding and clinical utility. The present study examines psychometric properties of a range of AB measures with a multimodal setup.
Methods
A nonclinical sample of 62 women aged 20–30 years completed the facial dot-probe task while behavioral responses (reaction time), eye-gaze patterns (eye tracking), and electrical brain potentials (electroencephalography) were recorded. AB metrics from four types of AB measures – traditional, response-based, dwell time, and the N2pc component– were examined with internal consistency and short-term test-retest calculations. AB metrics with an internal consistency score over .4 were considered reliable, and their validity were explored by examining relations to depression and anxiety symptoms. In addition, the consistency between reliable metrics across trials were examined.
Results
Findings show that traditional AB metrics exhibited no degree of reliability, whereas response-based and dwell time metrics overall demonstrated better internal consistencies. Response-based metrics also had higher test-retest reliability in all but one metric. The previously reported reliability of the N2pc component was not observed. As for validity, no linear associations were found between the reliable measures, depression, and anxiety. There were no relations between metrics across trials.
Conclusions
This study provides insights for future AB research, emphasizing the potential of novel metrics over traditional ones and the use of multimodal setups to develop reliable and potentially hybrid measurements for clinical assessment.
{"title":"Measuring attentional bias using the dot-probe task in young women: Psychometric properties and feasibility of response-based computations, dwell time, and the N2pc component","authors":"Sandra Klonteig , Elise S. Roalsø , Brage Kraft , Torgeir Moberget , Eva Hilland , Peyman Mirtaheri , Rune Jonassen","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102036","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102036","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Attentional bias (AB) is characterized by preferential cognitive and emotional processing of mood-congruent stimuli and considered a central mechanism in mood disorders. Considerable research has focused on improving AB measures to enhance mechanistic understanding and clinical utility. The present study examines psychometric properties of a range of AB measures with a multimodal setup.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A nonclinical sample of 62 women aged 20–30 years completed the facial dot-probe task while behavioral responses (reaction time), eye-gaze patterns (eye tracking), and electrical brain potentials (electroencephalography) were recorded. AB metrics from four types of AB measures – traditional, response-based, dwell time, and the N2pc component– were examined with internal consistency and short-term test-retest calculations. AB metrics with an internal consistency score over .4 were considered reliable, and their validity were explored by examining relations to depression and anxiety symptoms. In addition, the consistency between reliable metrics across trials were examined.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Findings show that traditional AB metrics exhibited no degree of reliability, whereas response-based and dwell time metrics overall demonstrated better internal consistencies. Response-based metrics also had higher test-retest reliability in all but one metric. The previously reported reliability of the N2pc component was not observed. As for validity, no linear associations were found between the reliable measures, depression, and anxiety. There were no relations between metrics across trials.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>This study provides insights for future AB research, emphasizing the potential of novel metrics over traditional ones and the use of multimodal setups to develop reliable and potentially hybrid measurements for clinical assessment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102036"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143834169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-03-14DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102032
Fiona G. Sleight, Charlie W. McDonald, Richard Mattson, Steven Jay Lynn
Laboratory-based inductions of dissociative states promise to facilitate understanding of the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of dissociation and dissociative disorders. In the present scoping review, we identified articles via a systematic search of PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PubMed, and Google Scholar, resulting in 59 articles that met a priori inclusion criteria. Of the 19 techniques described, numerous elicited changes in dissociative symptoms. However, studies were highly heterogeneous regarding their definition and measurement of dissociation. We call attention to relevant validity concerns presented by laboratory-based inductions and offer directions and recommendations for future research.
基于实验室的分离状态诱导有望促进对分离和分离障碍的病因、维持和治疗的理解。在本次范围界定综述中，我们通过对 PsycINFO、PsycARTICLES、PubMed 和 Google Scholar 进行系统检索，确定了 59 篇符合先验纳入标准的文章。在所描述的 19 种技术中，许多都能引起分离症状的变化。然而，这些研究在解离的定义和测量方面存在很大差异。我们呼吁大家关注基于实验室的诱导所带来的相关有效性问题，并为未来的研究提供方向和建议。
{"title":"Inducing dissociative states: A (re)view from the laboratory","authors":"Fiona G. Sleight, Charlie W. McDonald, Richard Mattson, Steven Jay Lynn","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102032","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102032","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Laboratory-based inductions of dissociative states promise to facilitate understanding of the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of dissociation and dissociative disorders. In the present scoping review, we identified articles via a systematic search of PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PubMed, and Google Scholar, resulting in 59 articles that met <em>a priori</em> inclusion criteria. Of the 19 techniques described, numerous elicited changes in dissociative symptoms. However, studies were highly heterogeneous regarding their definition and measurement of dissociation. We call attention to relevant validity concerns presented by laboratory-based inductions and offer directions and recommendations for future research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102032"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143671487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-02-21DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102030
M.D. Nuijs , H. Larsen , B. Grafton , C. MacLeod , S.M. Bögels , R.W. Wiers , E. Salemink
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.
{"title":"Attend to the positive while feeling anxious: The effect of state anxiety on the effectiveness of Attentional Bias Modification","authors":"M.D. Nuijs , H. Larsen , B. Grafton , C. MacLeod , S.M. Bögels , R.W. Wiers , E. Salemink","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102030","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102030","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background and objectives</h3><div>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.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Participants (<em>n</em> = 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.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>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.</div></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><div>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.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>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.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102030"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143519848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-05-29DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102041
Lu Zhang , Xiaoyu Zhang , Fei Yu , Wencai Zhang
The psychotherapeutic memory is vital for sustaining the therapy's effect for longer, as it serves as a resource for coping with future mental distress. This study used “problem-solution” micro-counselling dialogues (MCDs) to investigate whether memory for psychotherapy in people with anxiety could be promoted by enhancing encoding and retrieval of memory. Experiment 1 examined whether metaphorical encoding of solutions could obtain better memory of solutions in people with anxiety. Experiment 2 examined whether high retrieval motivation (HRM) of problems could promote memory retrieval of solutions, especially metaphorical ones, compared with low retrieval motivation (LRM) in people with anxiety. The results revealed that (1) metaphorical encoding increased memory performance, with higher memory discrimination (d’) and correct recognition numbers (CR) of solutions compared with literal solutions in both the anxious and healthy group. (2) High retrieval motivation increased memory performance only in anxious participants, with the d’ of HRM higher than LRM and the d’ of HRM in metaphorical solutions higher than literal ones. These results indicated optimal memory of psychotherapy for anxious individuals can be achieved by simultaneously employing metaphorical encoding of solutions and increasing the retrieval motivation of problems.
{"title":"Enhancing effects on memory for psychotherapy in people with anxiety via metaphor encoding of solutions and motivated retrieval of problem contexts","authors":"Lu Zhang , Xiaoyu Zhang , Fei Yu , Wencai Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102041","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102041","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The psychotherapeutic memory is vital for sustaining the therapy's effect for longer, as it serves as a resource for coping with future mental distress. This study used “problem-solution” micro-counselling dialogues (MCDs) to investigate whether memory for psychotherapy in people with anxiety could be promoted by enhancing encoding and retrieval of memory. Experiment 1 examined whether metaphorical encoding of solutions could obtain better memory of solutions in people with anxiety. Experiment 2 examined whether high retrieval motivation (HRM) of problems could promote memory retrieval of solutions, especially metaphorical ones, compared with low retrieval motivation (LRM) in people with anxiety. The results revealed that (1) metaphorical encoding increased memory performance, with higher memory discrimination (d’) and correct recognition numbers (CR) of solutions compared with literal solutions in both the anxious and healthy group. (2) High retrieval motivation increased memory performance only in anxious participants, with the d’ of HRM higher than LRM and the d’ of HRM in metaphorical solutions higher than literal ones. These results indicated optimal memory of psychotherapy for anxious individuals can be achieved by simultaneously employing metaphorical encoding of solutions and increasing the retrieval motivation of problems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102041"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144166711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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