The Face-in-the-Crowd attentional bias modification task improves mood but not through modified attentional biases: a randomised experimental trial

Abstract

Abstract Attentional and cognitive biases related to psychological distress have been modified in clinical samples. This study investigates whether such biases can be detected and changed in a community sample and whether such training can reduce psychological distress. Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition and assessed at baseline, seven days, and 30 days follow-up. We operationalised attentional biases as target search latency in milliseconds. Results showed limited evidence of attentional biases in participants with higher trait mood distress. However, significant correlations were found in the experimental condition at day thirty, indicating a relationship between task latency and stress, as well as changes in latency and depression. Curiously, we observed some evidence of improvement in mood after the intervention. Participants in the control condition reported the greatest improvements in mood and psychological distress, while effects in the experimental condition were largely changes in attentional biases. These findings suggest that while attentional biases associated with psychological distress are obscured in community samples, the use of a bias modification intervention can be effective in eliciting a positive bias which, in turn, improves mood. This study highlights the potential for attentional bias modification in treating psychological distress symptoms.