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Attention-Bias Modification Treatment for PTSD

NCT01888653 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 50

Last updated 2022-04-13

Study results available
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Summary

Emerging research implicates biased attention to threat in the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. Recent findings demonstrate significant associations between attention bias and stress vulnerability. This work has motivated the development of a novel therapy, attention-bias-modification (ABM) treatment . ABM is designed to implicitly modify patients' biased threat attendance via computerized training protocols. Emerging evidence indicates that ABM is effective in modifying threat-related attention biases and in ameliorating anxiety symptoms. However, it is unclear whether ABM is efficacious for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present pilot study is a double blind trial that seeks to examine feasibility, acceptability, safety, efficacy, and risk/benefit ratio of ABM in individuals with PTSD. In addition this pilot study seeks to identify specific genes associated with anxiety disorders and to examine whether these can predict the success of the ABM.

Conditions

  • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Attention Bias Modification (ABM)

The training protocol consisted of 160 trials per session with 120 angry-neutral and 40 neutral-neutral trials. Each participant was trained with an alternative set of faces to the one used in the assessment task (i.e. if measured with set A then trained with set B and vice-versa). In the ABM condition, training was contin- gent on the bias measured at pre-treatment. Specifically, for those showing a bias toward the threat, the target appeared at the neutral-face location in 100% of the threat-neutral trials, while for those showing a bias away from the threat, the target appeared at the threat-face location in 100% of the threat-neutral trials.

BEHAVIORAL

Attention control training (ACT)

In the ACT condition, threat- face location, probe location, and probe type were fully counter- balanced with no contingency between face valence and probe location, thus resembling the assessment task.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc.

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Yuval Neria, PhD · Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
60 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2013-05-31
Primary Completion
2018-04-02
Completion
2018-04-02

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01888653 on ClinicalTrials.gov