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Inducing a benign interpretational bias reduces trait anxiety
Andrew Mathews1, Valerie Ridgeway, Emma Cook
1Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15, Chaucer Road, Cambridge, UK. ammathews@ucdavis.edu <ammathews@ucdavis.edu>
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
|December 5, 2006
Summary
Reducing negative interpretation bias in high trait-anxious individuals decreased anxiety proneness. Training participants to interpret ambiguous events more positively led to reduced trait anxiety scores, suggesting a potential intervention for pathological anxiety.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Negative interpretational bias is linked to emotional vulnerability and anxiety.
- Understanding this link is crucial for developing anxiety interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if reducing negative interpretational bias can decrease anxiety proneness.
- To assess the efficacy of a training intervention aimed at modifying interpretation biases.
Main Methods:
- High trait-anxious volunteers participated in a four-session training program.
- Participants were trained to interpret ambiguous event descriptions positively.
- A test-retest control group was used for comparison.
Main Results:
- The trained group showed a greater tendency towards positive interpretations of novel descriptions compared to controls.
- Trait anxiety scores significantly decreased in the trained group relative to the control group.
Conclusions:
- Modifying interpretation biases can lead to corresponding changes in emotional vulnerability.
- Interpretation bias modification training shows promise as a method for managing pathological anxiety.
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