Patients who suffer from social anxiety may benefit from computer programs, according to a recent study conducted at Alpert Medical School.
The researchers attempted to modify subjects' cognitive bias — a tendency to focus attention on negative social cues — through a computer program that diverts patients' attention from negative cues, such as an image of an angry face, and instead trains the subjects' focus on positive social cues.
"Cognitive bias modification helps people get better control over attention so they're not distracted by irrelevant, threatening or negative cues in their environment," said Courtney Beard, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior and the lead author of the study, published in the Sept. 2 issue of the journal Depression and Anxiety. "They have to perform a simple task over and over again. If they performed well, it means that they were able to disengage from negative cues and focus on the task."
The technology needs to be validated by further experimentation, Beard said, but it could eventually serve as an inexpensive, accessible treatment for patients who suffer from social anxiety. Beard said she does not believe the technology would replace medication or therapy, but she thinks patients could benefit from undergoing cognitive bias modification alongside other treatments.
"We're hoping to be able to do future research to look at matching issues, such as who would benefit from this treatment and examine who the best candidates are," said Risa Weisberg, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior and co-author of the study along with Nader Amir, a professor at San Diego State University.
Both Beard and Weisberg said they believe the technology could be particularly appealing to college students because it is computer-based, and college students tend to be more comfortable with computerized technology than members of other demographics.
According to Weisberg, many anxiety disorders emerge in patients when they are adolescents, but the stress of college can make them more apparent.
Last year, Psychological Services saw 70 students who suffered from social anxiety disorder, according to Director of Psychological Services Belinda Johnson. Johnson discusses with students the variety of available treatment options but refers them to off-campus doctors for actual prescription and treatment.
Johnson said she was wary of speculating about the implications of the study.
"I think the results of the study are preliminary, and it's hard to draw any conclusions about treatment effectiveness based on that study," she said.
Beard and Weisberg said they hope to examine cognitive bias effects on other forms of anxiety and cater the treatment to specific patients. They recently began a new study examining the effects of cognitive bias modification on patients with panic disorder.
"Ideally we want to conduct a much larger study to confirm that our results are reliable," Beard said. "We're looking to expand and develop a program that will target multiple types of anxiety at the same time and focus on the particular person."
"It's a relatively new type of treatment," Weisberg said. "The research in this area is still quite young. I think this work has mostly implications for future researchers to validate its efficacy. Hopefully, there will be funding available to do that."
