Mechanism of Attention Bias Modification in Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Using Emotional Attention Network Task as Assessment for Efficacy

• Main Authors: YEN, MEI-CHUN, 嚴眉鈞
• Other Authors: TENG, MIN-HUNG
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/8r37e5

碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 心理學系臨床心理學研究所 === 106 === It is known that attention bias modification (ABM) can improve symptom of attention bias in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, the therapeutic mechanism of ABM remains unclear (MacLeod & Clarke, 2015). In this study, 27 patients with GAD and 28 healthy compatible were recruited. All participant were randomly assigned to either the ABM group (focusing on neutral stimuli) or the placebo-training group (no specific type of stimuli is targeted). Before and after training, both groups received two types of attention network test (ANT) to assess changes in the alerting network, orienting network, and executive control network of the participants. The two types of ANT were the standard ANT and the emotion ANT (e-ANT), latter of which involves threat and neutral words as clues. The e-ANT can also be used to assess alertness to neutral or threat stimuli, as well as orientations from neutral to threat and from threat to neutral stimuli. The results indicated that the attention allocation of the patients with GAD was inflexible.Compared with the control group, the patients have difficult to maintain alertness and to disengage from the central cue while using symbols as cue. Meanwhile, when facing threat stimuli, the patients have more difficulty with shifting attention from threat stimuli to neutral stimuli, and faster engagement from neutral stimuli to threat stimuli. After receiving training (regardless of which type), the ability of the patients with GAD to shift attention from or be alert with either threat or neutral stimuli has significantly improved, possibly because the participants starting to respond strategically during attention training. The results of this study assist in understanding the underlying processes of attention bias in patients with GAD and the relationship between such processes and ABM from the perspectives of attention networks proposed by Posner.