AUTHOR=Ma Lichen , Kruijt Anne-Wil , Nöjd Sofia , Zetterlund Elin , Andersson Gerhard , Carlbring Per 

TITLE=Attentional Bias Modification in Virtual Reality – A VR-Based Dot-Probe Task With 2D and 3D Stimuli

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02526

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02526

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Attentional bias modification (ABM) aims to reduce anxiety by attenuating bias toward threatening information. The current study incorporated virtual reality (VR) technology and three-dimensional stimuli with a dot-probe task to evaluate the effects of a VR-based ABM training on attentional bias and anxiety symptoms.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A total of 100 participants were randomized to four training groups. Attentional bias was assessed at pre- and post-training, and anxiety symptoms were assessed at pre-training, post-training, 1-week follow-up, and 3-months follow-up.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Change in anxiety did not correlate with change in bias (<italic>p</italic> = 0.24). A repeated-measures ANOVA showed no significant difference in bias from pre- to post-ABM (<italic>p</italic> = 0.144), or between groups (<italic>p</italic> = 0.976). For anxiety symptoms, a linear mixed-effects model analysis revealed a significant effect of time. Participants showed reduction in anxiety score at each successive assessment (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). However, no other significant main effect or interactions were found. A clinically significant change analysis revealed that 9% of participants were classified as ‘recovered’ at 3-months follow-up.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>A single session of VR-based ABM did not change attentional bias. The significant reduction in anxiety was not specific to active training, and the majority of participants remained clinically unchanged.</p></sec>