Combining Unguided Web-Based Attentional Bias Modification and Affective Working Memory Training to Decrease Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

M D Nuijs, H Larsen, A M Klein, R P P P Grasman, R W Wiers, E L de Voogd, E Salemink

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Article in Cognitive therapy and research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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7 authors.

M D NuijsDevelopmental Psychology, Adapt Lab, Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

H LarsenDevelopmental Psychology, Adapt Lab, Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

A M KleinDevelopmental Psychology, Adapt Lab, Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

R P P P GrasmanPsychological Methods, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

R W WiersDevelopmental Psychology, Adapt Lab, Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

E L de VoogdDevelopmental Psychology, Adapt Lab, Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

E SaleminkDevelopmental Psychology, Adapt Lab, Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-6885-2598

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: Cognitive vulnerability to anxiety can partly be explained by an interplay of attentional biases and control processes. This suggests that when aiming to reduce anxiety, simultaneously reducing an attentional bias for threat and strengthening control processes would be the optimal approach. We investigated whether a combined web-based Attentional Bias Modification (ABM) with affective Working Memory Training (WMT) was effective in reducing trait anxiety relative to control conditions and whether state anxiety moderated ABM effects. Methods: In this pre-registered randomized controlled trial, adults with heightened trait anxiety ( Results: Irrespective of the training conditions, participants showed a decrease in trait anxiety over time. The ABM training was associated with stronger reductions in AB. The WMT training was not associated with more improvements in WM capacity relative to the control condition. No moderating effects of state anxiety, baseline AB or WM capacity were observed. Conclusions: The findings suggested that the current type of ABM combined with WMT in a web-based format, without therapist support, was not effective in reducing trait anxiety beyond control conditions.The study was registered in the Netherlands Trial Register (NTR-NL4525, https://www.onderzoekmetmensen.nl/en/trial/23135). Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-024-10565-y.

Indexed as

AdultsAttentional bias modificationState anxietyTrait anxietyWeb-basedWorking memory training

Identifiers

PMID40718650

DOI10.1007/s10608-024-10565-y

PMCPMC12287166

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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.