Attention-Bias Modification Treatment for PTSD

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Attention control training (ACT); Behavioral: Attention Bias Modification (ABM)

Detailed Description

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.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • New York State Psychiatric Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Males or females between the ages of 18 and 60;
• Current DSM-IV PTSD for the last 12 months or more;
• Fluent in English and willing and able to give informed written consent and participate responsibly in the protocol;
• Attention bias toward or away from threat assessed by Dot-probe attention bias task

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current DSM-IV Axis I disorder other than PTSD.
• Patients with comorbid (i.e., secondary diagnosis of) major depressive disorder (MDD) will be allowed for enrollment if their HAM-D score doesn't exceed 25;
• Prior or current diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, organic mental disorder, bipolar disorder, or antisocial, schizotypal, and schizoid personality disorders;
• Suicidal ideation or behavior that poses a significant danger to the subject. Unstable clinical condition such that participation in a controlled trial would pose a significant danger;
• Prior participation in attention bias modification treatment (ABMT);
• Current or past history of seizure disorder (except febrile seizure in childhood);
• Currently on psychotropic medication. (excluding the use of hypnotics);

• Currently participating in formal psychotherapy. This includes:

  • psychodynamic,
  • cognitive behavioral and interpersonal therapies
• Current unstable or untreated medical illness;
• Vision loss.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Comparison-Training-Program; Placebo-training program: attention control training (ACT), is identical to the ABM protocol except that during the presentation of the trials where a threat word is presented, the probe will appear with equal frequency in the position of the threat and neutral word. Thus, neither threat nor neutral words provide information regarding the position of the target probe, and there is no contingency between the position of either threat or neutral words, and the position of the probes	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.; Other Names: ABMT Placebo
Active Comparator: Attention Biased Modification; Attention-bias-modification treatment (ABM) is designed to implicitly modify patients' biased threat attendance via computerized training protocols. During each session, 240 trials (80 neutral-neutral pairs, 160 threat-neutral pairs) will be presented. On trials where participants see one neutral word and one threat word, the probe will always follow the neutral word location. Thus, although there is no specific instruction to direct attention away from threat words, on 66% of all trials (and 100% of the threat-neutral trials) the position of the neutral word will indicate the position of the target probe.	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.; Other Names: ABMT

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Primary Outcome: Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS)	Measures severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms from 0 (least severe) to 80 (most severe).	4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Secondary Outcome: PTSD Check List-Civilian (PCL-C)	Measures severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms from 0 (least severe) to 80 (most severe).	4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Yuval Neria, PhD, Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• PTSD Program, New York State Psychiatric Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 2, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): April 2, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 25, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 27, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): June 28, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 13, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 15, 2022
• Last Verified: February 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: PTSD; Attention Bias to threat; Attention Bias Modification Treatment
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB# 6688

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No