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Updated: May 14, 2026

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults
Published on: October 19, 2014
Demanding attention: reconsidering the role of attention control groups in behavioral intervention research
Abstract:
Attention control groups play an important but controversial role in randomized controlled trials of behavioral interventions. The study by Pagoto et al. in this issue of Psychosomatic Medicine provides an informative example of some of the problems that attention control conditions can create in psychosomatic and behavioral medicine trials. This article discusses the reasons why these problems occur and provides some practical solutions. It also explains why controlling for attention is unnecessary and counterproductive in some behavioral trials.
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