Attention Bias Modification Treatment For Adolescent Major Depression

Objectives:Negative attentional biases are usually considered to have a causal role in the onset and maintenance of depressive symptoms. Therefore, by reducing such biases may be a useful strategy in the treatment of depressive symptoms. We use clinical randomized controlled trial examined long-term effects of a computerized attention bias modification (ABM) procedure on adolescents with elevated depressive symptoms.Methods:The participants are 45 adolescents which were conform to the diagnosis of depression,and without suicidal trend or any other severe mental disorders. In double-blind study design, they were randomly assigned in to two conditions:1) ABM training group (n=23); 2) placebo (n=22).The attentional biases training program is based on the Dot-probe paradigm. The program including:1) neutral-program:Using neutral words and negative words as training materials. All participants completed 8 sessions of 320-trails during a 2-week period. Assessments were conducted at pre-training, post-training and 7-week follow-up. Change in depressive symptoms and restoration of a symptomatic level were the primary outcome measures.2) positive-program:Using positive words, neutral words and negative words as training materials.All participants completed 8 sessions of 120-trails during a 4-week period. Assessments were conducted at pre-training, post-training and 5,10-month follow-ups. Change in depressive symptoms and restoration of a symptomatic level were the primary outcome measures.Results:Compared to the placebo group, the ABM training group showed significant reductions in depressive symptoms and negative attentional bias. In neutral-post-test, the numbers of participants which conformed to the diagnosis of depression in ABM group(n==,13.04%) showed significant clinical differences, compared to the numbers in placebo group (n=9,40.90%). The result of 7-week follow-up:1) ABM group (n= 417.8%); 2) placebo (n=1,4.8%)Compared to the placebo group, the ABM group get significant reductions in CES-D and STAI at 12th-month follow-up assessments.Conclusions:The ABM effect on reducing depressive symptoms was maintained for at short duration in individuals with elevated depressive symptoms, and these results suggest that ABM may be a useful tool for the prevention of depressive symptoms.