SynthesisPloS one2014
How to boost positive interpretations? A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of cognitive bias modification for interpretation.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03987477 (Brief Online Intervention to Modify Interpretation Biases in Depression), which is not on this map. Cited by 53 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Brief Online Intervention to Modify Interpretation Biases in Depression: An Experimental Approach
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review with meta-analysis of cognitive bias modification interventions for anger and aggression.Behaviour research and therapy · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review of the word sentence association paradigm (WSAP).Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Initial Evidence of Mathematics Interpretation Bias Intervention Effects on College Students' Mathematics Anxiety.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026Trial
- Development and evaluation of a digital single-session reappraisal intervention to shift negative self-focused social media interpretations.Behaviour research and therapy · 2026Trial
- Randomized controlled trial of smartphone-based interpretation bias intervention for anxiety and depression.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2026Trial
- Web-based interpretation bias training to reduce anxiety: A sequential, multiple-assignment randomized trial.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2024Trial
- Induced interpretation bias affects free recall and episodic memory bias in social anxiety.PloS one · 2023Trial
- A Randomized Test of Interpretation Bias Modification for Perfectionism Versus Guided Visualization Relaxation Among High Perfectionistic Undergraduate Students.Behavior therapy · 2022Trial
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of Computerized Interpretation Bias Training for Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder: A Fast-Fail Study.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2022Trial
- Efficacy of the Chinese version interpretation bias modification training in an unselected sample: A randomized trial.PloS one · 2021Trial
- Cognitive bias modification for threat interpretations: Impact on anxiety symptoms and stress reactivity.Depression and anxiety · 2020Trial
- Trial
- A pilot randomized controlled trial of cognitive bias modification to reduce fear of breast cancer recurrence.Cancer · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Randomized controlled trial of attention bias modification in a racially diverse, socially anxious, alcohol dependent sample.Behaviour research and therapy · 2016Trial
- Training less threatening interpretations over the Internet: Does the number of missing letters matter?Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry · 2015Trial
- Interpretation bias modification for youth and their parents: a novel treatment for early adolescent social anxiety.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2014Trial
- Affective and neural modulation of smart device-related stimuli following a single session of evaluative conditioning.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Article
- Examining clinical relevance of interpretation inflexibility in social contexts.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The current meta-analysis explores the strength of effects of cognitive bias modification training for interpretation bias (CBM-I) on positive (i.e., adaptive) interpretations and mood as well as the training and sample characteristics influencing these effects. Data-bases were searched with the key words "interpret* bias AND training" and "interpret* bias AND modif*". Reference lists of identified articles were checked and authors of identified articles were contacted for further relevant articles and unpublished data. Studies were reviewed for inclusion with eligibility criteria being that the study (a) aimed to target interpretation biases through any kind of training, (b) assessed mood and/or interpretation bias as outcome measures, (c) allocated individuals to training conditions at random, and (d) recruited adult samples. A meta-analytic multilevel mixed-effects model was employed to assess standardized mean changes in interpretation bias, negative mood, and emotional reactivity. In addition, several training and sample characteristics were explored for their potential to enhance benign training effectiveness. On average, benign CBM-I resulted in an increase in positive interpretation bias (p<.01) and a decrease in negative mood state (p<.001), but did not affect emotional reactivity. These effects were not consistently different from control conditions with no or neutral training. However, within benign training conditions imagery instructions and more training sessions were related to larger cognitive and mood effects, whereas feedback about training performance and inclusion of non-benign training items (instead of including benign items only) boosted cognitive effects only. Finally, training was more effective in women (cognitive and mood effects) and presumably samples with symptomatic emotional dysregulation (cognitive effects). Although the effects of emotional dysregulation and number of training sessions could not well be distinguished, there is an indication that when used with imagery instructions and more training sessions, benign CBM-I can be employed as a useful complementary treatment to usual psychotherapies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.