Mental Health on the Go Effects of a Gamified Attention-Bias Modification Mobile Application in Trait-Anxious Adults

• Published in: Clinical psychological science Vol. 2; no. 5; pp. 576 - 590
• Main Authors: Dennis, Tracy A., O’Toole, Laura J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2014; Sage Publications
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Medical sciences; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reeducation. Readaptation. Sociotherapy; Treatments; gamification; anxiety; stress; attention-bias-modification training; mobile application; Human; Affect affectivity; Treatment efficiency; Attention; Mental health; Cognition; Personality; Experimental study; Stress; Play; Treatment; Cognitive remediation; Adolescent; Young adult; Adult; Anxiety; Computer aid; Cognitive bias; attention bias modification training
• ISSN: 2167-7026; 2167-7034
• DOI: 10.1177/2167702614522228

Interest in the use of mobile technology to deliver mental-health services has grown in light of the economic and practical barriers to treatment. Yet research on alternative delivery strategies that are more affordable, accessible, and engaging is in its infancy. Attention-bias modification training (ABMT) has the potential to reduce treatment barriers as a mobile intervention for stress and anxiety, but the degree to which ABMT can be embedded in a mobile gaming format and its potential for transfer of benefits is unknown. In the present study, we examined effects of a gamified ABMT mobile application in highly trait-anxious participants (N = 78). A single session of the active training relative to the placebo training reduced subjective anxiety and observed stress reactivity. Critically, the long (45 min) but not the short (25 min) active training condition reduced the core cognitive process implicated in ABMT (threat bias) as measured by an untrained, gold-standard protocol.