Attention training to reduce attention bias and social stressor reactivity: An attempt to replicate and extend previous findings
Highlights
► We attempted to replicate a previous study of attention training for social anxiety. ► We used a comparable sample and identical methods to the Amir et al. (2008) study. ► Attention training did not reduce attention bias or reactivity to social stressor. ► Aerobic exercise did not augment the effects of attention training. ► The findings emphasize the continued need for replication and guide future work.
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were 112 adults who scored in the elevated range of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report (LSAS-SR; Baker, Heinrichs, Kim, & Hofmann, 2002), i.e., greater than a score of 26. This cut-off score for elevated social anxiety was selected in an effort to replicate the procedures implemented by Amir et al. (2008), who indicated that a score of 26 is greater than one standard deviation above the mean for individuals with no Axis-I disorders (M = 10.2, SD = 9.3; Fresco et al.,
Sample characteristics at baseline
Table 1 reports the sample characteristics at baseline by condition. Ages ranged from 18 to 48 years (M = 19.87; SD = 3.15), and the sample was 81.5% female. Thirty-two percent of the sample was diagnosed with a primary Axis-I disorder including: social anxiety disorder (10.7%); major depressive disorder (6.3%); specific phobia (3.6%); alcohol abuse (2.7%); generalized anxiety disorder or depressive disorder NOS (1.8%); or adjustment disorder, past binge eating disorder, past anorexia, or
Discussion
The purpose of the present study was to replicate and extend previous work suggesting that attention training can reduce attention bias and subsequent vulnerability to psychological stressors. To this end, we conducted an experiment with sufficient statistical power to detect small effects of attention training with or without exercise on attention bias and anxiety reactivity to a speech task in socially anxious adults. We used identical assessment and training procedures to those employed by
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