Developing an interpretation bias modification training task for alleviating loneliness in young people

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Mental Health
• Digital Interventions

Background:

• Loneliness is prevalent in young adults, linked to adverse health outcomes.
• Loneliness correlates with a bias towards perceiving social situations as threatening.
• Cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) presents a potential early intervention strategy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and acceptability of a digital CBM-I intervention enhanced with mental imagery.
• To evaluate the impact of CBM-I training on interpretational style and loneliness in young adults.
• To compare changes in interpretational bias and loneliness between CBM-I and control groups.

Main Methods:

• Co-creation of CBM-I training materials with young adults experiencing loneliness.
• Delivery of a single session of mental imagery-enhanced digital CBM-I to young adults (n=29) with high loneliness.
• Comparison with a control group (n=27) receiving standard online content.

Main Results:

• High uptake (88%) and retention (92%) rates for the CBM-I training.
• Participants reported the training was acceptable.
• The CBM-I group demonstrated significant reductions in social threat interpretations (d=0.77) and loneliness (d=0.56), and increased benign interpretations (d=0.84).
• The control group showed minimal changes in threat interpretation (d=0.21) and benign interpretation (d=0.04), with increased loneliness (d=0.41).

Conclusions:

• Interpretation biases associated with youth loneliness are modifiable through CBM-I.
• Digital CBM-I interventions can effectively reduce feelings of loneliness in young people.
• Findings support psychological models of loneliness and inform the development of targeted CBM-I interventions.