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Cognitive bias modification approaches to anxiety
Colin MacLeod1, Andrew Mathews
1School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley WA 6009 Australia. colin.macleod@uwa.edu.au
Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
|November 1, 2011
Summary
Cognitive biases contribute to anxiety. Cognitive-bias modification (CBM) effectively reduces anxiety vulnerability and dysfunction by targeting attention and interpretation biases.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Clinical psychology
- Psychopathology
Background:
- Anxiety disorders and vulnerability are linked to cognitive biases.
- These biases involve selective processing of information.
- Understanding the causal role of biases is crucial for treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review research on the causal role of cognitive biases in anxiety.
- To evaluate cognitive-bias modification (CBM) as a therapeutic approach.
- To explore the potential of CBM in clinical settings.
Main Methods:
- Review of studies investigating cognitive biases in anxiety.
- Analysis of cognitive-bias modification (CBM) procedures, including CBM for attention (CBM-A) and interpretation (CBM-I).
- Examination of research evaluating the efficacy of CBM in reducing anxiety.
Main Results:
- Cognitive biases causally contribute to anxiety vulnerability and dysfunction.
- CBM-A and CBM-I effectively reduce anxiety vulnerability.
- CBM procedures ameliorate dysfunctional anxiety symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive biases play a causal role in anxiety.
- CBM is a promising therapeutic strategy for anxiety disorders.
- Further research is needed to optimize CBM's theoretical and applied value.
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