Attention Bias Modification Training for Social Phobia (ABMSP)

Mobile-based Attentional Bias Modification Training (ABMT) for Socially Anxious Individuals

Attentional bias has primarily been investigated as a primary cognitive etiology of social anxiety symptoms. Previous research has found that individuals with high social anxiety showed facilitated attentional engagement to threat stimuli or delayed disengagement of attention from threat. Attentional Bias Modification Training (ABMT) was developed through applying the attentional mechanism in social anxiety. During ABMT, participants are deliberately induced to shift their attention away from threat stimuli and toward neutral stimuli. Despite its proven effectiveness, a recent meta-study found that the effect size of ABMT is significant but too small. As a result, the current study focuses on improving the existing ABMT by incorporating integrative factors into attention training. The current study aims to integrate bottom-up and top-down cognitive processes in ABMT. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions (active or placebo training) and will complete the ABMT for three weeks. The ABMT's efficacy will be assessed by comparing pre- and post-training measures.

Individuals with at least mild level of social anxiety symptoms will be invited to the current study. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the two attention training conditions: a Integrated Attentional Bias Modification (I-ABM) training or placebo training (PLT). Before and after the training, participants will complete computerized tasks (e.g., attention network task, dot-probe task) and self-report questionnaires.

The basic design of I-ABM training will follow the dot-probe task, which will ask participants to swipe or tap on the probe in the correct direction. The I-ABM training aims to shift attention away from threatening stimuli or improve the inhibitory control ability. The PLT training will have the same basic design, but this will not include therapeutic components. Participants will complete the training three times per week for three weeks (a total of 9 training sessions), and there will be post-training and a 2-week follow-up assessment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (based on the DIAMOND interview - Social anxiety module)
• Moderate or severe symptoms of social anxiety as revealed by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS score of ≥ 40) or MINI-SPIN (Score of ≥ 6)
• Ages 18-60
• English as a primary language
• Possession of a mobile device for access to the app (Inquisit 6)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Self-reported visual impairment that cannot be adjusted and will prevent them from clearly recognizing words and pictures on mobile screen
• Self-reported history of a bipolar disorder or psychotic disorder