Attention bias modification for reducing speech anxiety
Section snippets
Design
We used a 3 (Group; ABM, inverse, control) × 2 (Assessment; pretraining, posttraining) mixed design. Using an algorithm designed by the second author, we randomly assigned subjects to the ABM, inverse, and control groups. Research assistants (RAs) testing subjects knew what protocol to run (A, B, or C), but only the second author was aware of what protocol corresponded to ABM, inverse, and control training procedures. Hence, the experiment was double blind. Harvard University's Committee on the
Overview
We present data on subjects who completed the protocol. Prior to inspecting the data and breaking the blind on group assignment, we excluded subjects for several reasons. Some subjects dropped out before completing the protocol (ABM = 12; inverse = 10; control = 7). The data of two additional inverse subjects were eliminated because of experimenter error in delivering the incorrect training regimen for one subject, and the other because the Harvard University Study Pool identified him as a
Discussion
Irrespective of their group assignment, subjects who completed four sessions of training exhibited statistically significant reductions on self-report, behavioral, and physiological measures of anxiety while delivering their speech at the posttraining assessment relative to the pretraining assessment. Moreover, the three groups likewise reported statistically indistinguishable and significant reductions on questionnaires tapping speech anxiety, anxiety, stress, depression, and social phobia.
Acknowledgements
We thank Ujunwa Anakwenze, Christopher Chiu, Gina Ferrari, Cindy Guan, Nicole LeBlanc, Richard Liu, Martin Möbius, Emily Pereira, Ashley Stilley, Mia Tankersley, Imke Vonk, Winnie Wu, and Janet Yarboi for their assistance with this project.
References (32)
- et al.
A randomized trial of attention training for generalized social phobia: does attention training change social behavior?
Behavior Therapy
(2013) - et al.
Behavioral assessment of social performance: a rating system for social phobia
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(1998) - et al.
Behavioral assessment of public-speaking anxiety using a modified version of the social performance rating scale
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(2003) - et al.
Attention training toward and away from threat in social phobia: effects on subjective, behavioral, and physiological measures of anxiety
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(2012) - et al.
A short-form of the personal report of confidence as a speaker
Personality and Individual Differences
(2008) - et al.
Attention training to reduce attention bias and social stressor reactivity: an attempt to replicate and extend previous findings
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(2012) - et al.
Internet-delivered attention modification training as a treatment for social phobia: a randomized controlled trial
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(2013) - et al.
A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(1997) - et al.
Integrating cognitive bias modification into a standard cognitive behavioural treatment package for social phobia: a randomized controlled trial
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(2013) - et al.
Effects of anxiety and attention control on processing pictorial and linguistic emotional information
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(2009)