Neutral And Positive Attention Bias Training Improves Depressive Symptoms And The Comparison Of The Role Of Redundant Thought

Background and objective:the cognitive theory of depression assumes that negative cognitive bias(such as negative attention bias)plays an important role in the occurrence and maintenance of depression.However,recent meta-analysis evidence suggests that avoidance of positive stimuli may be the cause of depression.This study intends to use two different attention training methods:(1)neutral attention training(neutral and negative stimuli at the same time,always oriented towards neutral stimulus,to correct negative attention bias)(2)positive attention training(when both neutral and positive stimuli appear at the same time,it always moves towards positive stimulus,develops positive attention bias,and discusses the effect of neutral and positive attention training methods to improve depressive symptoms and redundancy.Methods:college students who had been in depression mood for at least 2 months but did not meet the diagnosis of depression disorder were randomly assigned to four training conditions:neutral attention bias training group and neutral attention placebo training group.Positive attention training group and positive attention placebo training group.Each of the four groups completed 8 training sessions in 2 weeks(total 1 728 trialen 216tria × 8),about once every other day.Depression-related symptoms(depression,redundancy,trait anxiety and attention control ability)and attention bias were evaluated before and after training.At the same time,1 week,2 weeks,4 weeks and 7 weeks after training to complete the follow-up evaluation of symptoms.Results:(1)there was no significant difference in negative attention bias and positive attention bias between the four groups before and after attention training.(2)after training and 7 weeks after training,the depressive symptoms,redundancy and trait anxiety of the depressive symptoms individuals in the 4 groups were followed up.(3)the results of follow-up at 4 and 7 weeks after training showed that the scores of redundancy in neutral attention training group and placebo training group were significantly lower than those in positive attention training and placebo training group(that is,symptom improvement was better than that in positive attention training and placebo training group).Conclusion:the effect of neutral attention bias correction and placebo training is better than that of positive attention training,but there is no difference between the two training methods for the improvement of depressive symptoms.Long-term effects need to be further tracked.