The DOI matches its Crossref record; 48 of the 48 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Attention Bias Modification Treatment: A Meta-Analysis Toward the Establishment of Novel Treatment for Anxiety
Open accessAbstract
Background Attention Bias Modification Treatment (ABMT) is a newly-emerging promising treatment for anxiety disorders. While recent randomized control trials (RCTs) suggest that ABMT reduces anxiety, therapeutic effects have not been summarized quantitatively. Methods Standard meta-analytic procedures were used to summarize the effect of ABMT on anxiety. Using MEDLINE, January 1995 to February 2010, we identified RCTs comparing the effects on anxiety of ABMT and quantified effect sizes using Hedge’s d. Results Twelve studies met inclusion criteria, including 467 participants from 10 publications. ABMT produced significantly greater reductions in anxiety than control training, with a medium effect (d = 0.61, p <.001). Age and gender did not moderate the effect of ABMT on anxiety, while several characteristics of the ABMT training did. Conclusions ABMT shows promise as a novel treatment for anxiety. Additional RCTs are needed to fully evaluate the degree to which these findings replicate and apply to patients. Future work should consider the precise role for ABMT in the broader anxiety-disorder therapeutic armamentarium.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Many ABM studies have shown that this redirection of attention yields greater reduction of self-reported and clinically rated fear symptoms than attending directly to phobic stimuli (Hakamata, Lissek, Bar-Haim, Britton, et al. 2010; Heeren, Reese, McNally & Philippot, 2012; however, see Mogg, Waters & Bradley (2017) for inconsistent findings when ABM is compared to more rigorous control conditions”
From Advancing the treatment of anxiety disorders in transition‐age youth: a review of the therapeutic effects of unconscious exposure. (2025) · cites this paper as Hakamata, Lissek, Bar-Haim, Britton, et al. 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Furthermore, successful modification of cognitive biases parallels symptom improvement following cognitive behavioral therapy (Pishyar et al., 2008), pharmacotherapy (Mogg et al., 2004), or systematic training aimed at altering biases (Hakamata et al., 2010; Beard et al., 2011).”
From Mindfulness Training Alters Emotional Memory Recall Compared to Active Controls: Support for an Emotional Information Processing Model of Mindfulness (2012) · cites this paper as Hakamata et al., 2010
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Initial positive results with this strategy have been reported in chronic pain [14] and in psychopathology [8].”
From Attentional bias and chronic pain: Where to go from here? (2014) · cites this paper as [8]
In the citing paper
“and, importantly, have also been found to reduce self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression (Hakamata et al, 2010; Wells and Beevers, 2009).”
From Using an Experimental Medicine Model to Explore Combination Effects of Pharmacological and Cognitive Interventions for Depression and Anxiety (2011) · cites this paper as Hakamata et al, 2010
In the citing paper
“Although there is evidence that attentional cognitive bias training does ameliorate symptoms of depression, this literature is less consistent (Baert et al, 2010; Wells et al, 2009) than that demonstrating an anxiolytic effect (Hakamata et al, 2010).”
From Using an Experimental Medicine Model to Explore Combination Effects of Pharmacological and Cognitive Interventions for Depression and Anxiety (2011) · cites this paper as Hakamata et al, 2010
In the citing paper
“For example, evidence of dysfunction in PFC-dependent attentional processes has led to the development and testing of attention retraining therapies.97,175”
From Neural Substrates of Childhood Anxiety Disorders (2012) · cites this paper as [175]
In the citing paper
“A power analysis indicated that in order to detect a Time  Condition interaction between eight groups in predicting anxiety or depression scores, with a small effect size (f ¼ 0.10, based on Beard, Sawyer, & Hofmann, 2012;Hakamata et al., 2010;Hallion & Ruscio, 2011), a power of 90%, and an alpha of .05,472 participants were needed for the full study.”
From Online attentional bias modification training targeting anxiety and depression in unselected adolescents: short- and long-term effects of a randomized controlled trial (2016) · cites this paper as Hakamata et al., 2010
In the citing paper
“Recent meta-analyses and reviews of random controlled trials (RCTs) report small-to-moderate effect sizes of ABM on anxiety symptoms (Cristea, Kok et al., 2015;Cristea, Mogoas ¸e et al., 2015;Hakamata et al., 2010;Hallion & Ruscio, 2011;Heeren, Mogoase, Philippot et al., 2015;Mogoas ¸e et al., 2014;Van Bockstaele et al., 2014).”
From Anxiety and attention to threat: cognitive mechanisms and treatment with attention bias modification (2016) · cites this paper as Hakamata et al., 2010
In the citing paper
“However, prior reviews do not focus specifically on results in clinically affected patients.As a result, no review provides a direct meta-analytic test of the utility of ABMT as a stand-alone treatment for clinical anxiety disorders.”
In the citing paper
“Four published meta-analyses have examined the effects of attention bias modification on symptoms, as a group reporting small-to-medium effect sizes.[8][9][10][11]”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
Muller, K. E., & Cohen, J. (1989) · Technometrics · doi:10.2307/1270020 · Cited by 99,603
Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences
Cohen, J. (1990) · Computers Environment and Urban Systems · doi:10.1016/0198-9715(90)90050-4 · Cited by 65,417
Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O., & Walters, E. E. (2005) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.617 · Cited by 12,052
Wasserman, S. S., Hedges, L. V., & Olkin, I. (1988) · Journal of Educational Statistics · doi:10.2307/1164953 · Cited by 10,377
The file drawer problem and tolerance for null results.
Rosenthal, R. (1979) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.86.3.638 · Cited by 9,068
Statistical Methods for Meta-Analysis.
Freeman, P. R., Hedges, L. V., & Olkin, I. (1986) · Biometrics · doi:10.2307/2531069 · Cited by 4,840
Threat-related attentional bias in anxious and nonanxious individuals: a meta-analytic study.
Bar-Haim, Y., Lamy, D., Pergamin, L., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2007) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.1 · Cited by 3,721
Self-citationThe Handbook of Research Synthesis.
Howel, D., Cooper, H., & Hedges, L. V. (1995) · Biometrics · doi:10.2307/2533295 · Cited by 3,657
The role of the basal ganglia in habit formation
Yin, H. H., & Knowlton, B. J. (2006) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn1919 · Cited by 2,402
Balleine, B. W., & O'Doherty, J. P. (2010) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2009.131 · Cited by 1,775
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- MacLeod, 1995, Training selective attention: A cognitive-experimental technique for reducing anxiety vulnerability?, World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Abstracts, 118
- MacLeod, 2007, Internet-delivered assessment and manipulation of anxiety-linked attentional bias: Validation of a free-access attentional probe software package, Behav Res Methods, 39, 533, 10.3758/BF03193023 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–113 of 113
They are laughing at me: Cerebral mediation of cognitive biases in social anxiety
Kreifelts, B., Brück, C., Ritter, J., Ethofer, T., Domin, M., Lotze, M., Jacob, H., Schlipf, S., & Wildgruber, D. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0099815 · Cited by 31
“On the one hand, the present study defines clear cut regions of interest for further studies on the cerebral mechanisms underlying neuropsychological attention trainings which both modify such cognitive biases and alleviate the symptoms in anxiety disorders [49].”
BackgroundKuckertz, J. M., Schofield, C. A., Clerkin, E. M., Primack, J., Boettcher, H., Weisberg, R. B., Amir, N., & Beard, C. (2019) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465818000231 · Cited by 30
New Directions in Virtual Reality-Based Therapy for Anxiety Disorders
David, D., Matu, S.-A., & David, O. A. (2013) · International Journal of Cognitive Therapy · doi:10.1521/ijct.2013.6.2.114 · Cited by 25
Combat PTSD and implicit behavioral tendencies for positive affective stimuli: A brief report
Clausen, A. N., Youngren, W., Sisante, J.-F. V., Billinger, S. A., Taylor, C., & Aupperle, R. L. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00758 · Cited by 21
Wechsler, T. F., Pfaller, M., Eickels, R. E. V., Schulz, L. H., & Mühlberger, A. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.751272 · Cited by 21
Attentional bias and chronic pain: Where to go from here?
Van Ryckeghem, D. M. L., & Crombez, G. (2014) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2013.10.025 · Cited by 19
Amir, N., Kuckertz, J. M., & Strege, M. V. (2016) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-016-9781-1 · Cited by 19
Buckman, J. E. J., Saunders, R., Fearon, P., Leibowitz, J., & Pilling, S. (2019) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465818000590 · Cited by 18
Tonta, K. E., Howell, J. A., Hasking, P. A., Boyes, M. E., & Clarke, P. J. F. (2019) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2019.02.009 · Cited by 15
Internet‐ and Computer‐Based Treatments of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Becker, E., & Andersson, G. (2020) · Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Worrying · doi:10.1002/9781119189909.ch15 · Cited by 3
Siegel, P., & Peterson, B. S. (2025) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.14037 · Cited by 2
Attentional Bias in Anxious Youth: Clinical Applications
Weissman, A. S. (2020) · Journal of Psychology Research · doi:10.17265/2159-5542/2020.12.001 · Cited by 1
The Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Collins, L. M., Bragdon, L. B., & Coles, M. E. (2018) · Evidence‐Based Psychotherapy · doi:10.1002/9781119462996.ch6 · Cited by 1
Metadata
- Authors
- Hakamata, Y., Lissek, S., Bar-Haim, Y., Britton, J. C., Fox, N. A., Leibenluft, E., Ernst, M., & Pine, D. S.
- Affiliations
- National Institute of Mental Health (JP)
- National Institute of Mental Health (US)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hakamata, Yuko
- Venue
- Biological Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-12
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 982-990
- ISSN
- 0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3296778
- OpenAlex
- W2153922516
- Semantic Scholar
- 4eace0c1355ded852a1a6cac9a70897eac3af37c
- Cited by
- 869
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 60 · 2018: 68 · 2017: 62 · 2016: 65 · 2015: 101 · 2014: 75 · 2013: 89 · 2012: 70
- FWCI
- 8.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- attentional bias modification, anxiety disorders, anxiety treatment, cognitive bias modification, effect size, treatment moderators, age and gender differences
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Attention, Behavior Therapy, Humans
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
