Computer-assisted attention training could reduce anxiety in children and teens

In the United States, 30 to 50% of young people suffer from an anxiety disorder, and current cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has not given the expected results. Florida International University scientists found that using computer-assisted attention training could reduce anxiety in children and teens. The study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), provides a more effective strategy for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders who do not respond to CBT.

According to Jeremy Pettit, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University, “cognitive behavioral therapy is the leading evidence-based psychosocial treatment. It is therefore essential to have other treatment options available for this population, given that persistent anxiety is associated with distress, impaired functioning, as well as an elevated risk of other psychiatric disorders and suicide. .”

The computer to reduce anxiety

The researcher took 64 participants, aged 7 to 16, who were included in the study after detailed assessments to verify that manual cognitive behavioral therapy failed to provide relief.

The researcher gave the participants one of two forms of computer-assisted attention training. In one case, the attentional bias modification treatment was successful in directing attention toward neutral stimuli and away from threatening stimuli. In the second, attention control training trained attention to neutral stimuli and threatening stimuli equally. Researchers found that both forms of computerized attention training helped participants reduce symptoms of anxiety.

More than conclusive results

According to the study, 50% of people who completed four weeks of attention training no longer met the criteria for their primary diagnosis of anxiety, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).

According to the paper’s other co-lead author, Wendy Silverman, PhD, professor at Yale University School of Medicine, “Attention training is a promising adjunct for children who are unresponsive to cognitive-behavioral therapy. The universities of Yale and Florida are currently conducting a two-site treatment study to better understand how attention training produces anxiety-reducing effects, and the results of this paper give us a promising start.”