Translating CBM-I Into Real-World Settings: Augmenting a CBT-Based Psychiatric Hospital Program

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Behavioral Science
• Clinical Psychology
• Digital Therapeutics

Background:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a cornerstone treatment for various psychiatric conditions.
• Cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) offers a targeted approach to address interpretation biases, a key factor in many mental health disorders.
• Integrating CBM-I into acute psychiatric settings presents a novel opportunity to enhance existing therapeutic protocols.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a transdiagnostic CBM-I program as an augmentation to a CBT-based partial hospital program.
• To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and target engagement of CBM-I in an acute psychiatric patient population.
• To conduct exploratory analyses on the clinical benefits of CBM-I augmentation for anxiety and depression.

Main Methods:

• A transdiagnostic CBM-I protocol using the word-sentence association paradigm (WSAP) was developed.
• Patients (N=127) were randomly assigned to either CBM-I or a control group (neutral WSAP or treatment as usual).
• Feasibility, acceptability, interpretation bias change, and clinical outcomes (anxiety, depression) were primary outcome measures.

Main Results:

• CBM-I was found to be feasible and acceptable among acute psychiatric patients.
• The CBM-I intervention successfully shifted interpretation bias for novel ambiguous stimuli.
• Exploratory analyses indicated a small effect on anxiety severity but no significant difference in depression outcomes between groups.

Conclusions:

• CBM-I is a feasible and acceptable augmentation to CBT-based partial hospital care.
• The computerized training effectively modified interpretation bias in an acute psychiatric setting.
• Further research is needed to identify patient subgroups most likely to benefit from this low-intensity intervention.