Computerized attention retraining for individuals with elevated health anxiety

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Anxiety disorders

Background:

• Hypochondriasis is conceptualized as excessive health anxiety (HA).
• Elevated HA is linked to attentional bias (AB) towards health-threat information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of attention retraining using attention modification programs (AMP) for individuals with elevated HA.
• To examine the impact of AMP on attentional bias (AB) and health anxiety (HA).

Main Methods:

• Thirty-six individuals with elevated HA were randomly assigned to either AMP (n=18) or an attention control condition (ACC; n=18).
• Participants completed eight twice-weekly sessions over four weeks.
• AMP trained participants to disengage attention from health-threat words.

Main Results:

• No significant changes in attentional bias (AB) were observed after AMP training.
• AMP did not outperform the attention control condition (ACC) in reducing health anxiety (HA) or other emotional symptoms.
• Both AMP and ACC groups showed significant overall reductions in HA, anxiety sensitivity, depression, anxiety, and somatic complaints.

Conclusions:

• Attention modification programs (AMP) did not demonstrate effectiveness in reducing attentional bias (AB) or health anxiety (HA) in this study.
• Further research is required to elucidate the mechanisms and potential of AMP as a cognitive intervention for HA.