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Biased attention retraining in dysphoria: a failure to replicate
Liza Mastikhina1, Keith Dobson1
1a Department of Clinical Psychology , University of Calgary , Calgary , Alberta , Canada.
Cognition & Emotion
|January 23, 2016
Summary
Attentional retraining did not reduce depressive symptoms more than a control condition in a replication study. Further research is needed to understand its effectiveness for depression.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Attentional bias towards negative information is linked to depression.
- Previous research suggested attentional retraining could reduce depressive symptoms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate Wells and Beevers (2010) study.
- To examine the longitudinal effects of attentional retraining on depression symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Dysphoric students were randomly assigned to neutral or attentional retraining.
- Training involved a dot-probe task with sad and neutral images over four sessions.
- Mood was assessed at baseline, post-training, and two-week follow-up.
Main Results:
- All participants showed reduced depressive symptoms over time.
- Attentional retraining offered no significant advantage over the control condition.
- Findings contrasted with the original Wells and Beevers (2010) study.
Conclusions:
- The study failed to replicate the efficacy of attentional retraining for depression.
- Results suggest attentional retraining may not be more effective than control conditions for reducing depressive symptoms.
- Further investigation is required to clarify the role of attentional retraining in depression treatment.
