At a glance
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The Impact of the Attention Training Technique on Attention Control and High Worry
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating Attention Training Technique and Control Condition for Excessive Worry. Completed, enrolled 95 participants across 1 site.
Detailed Summary
Excessive and uncontrollable worry has been associated with deficits in attention control. The Attention Training Technique (ATT; Wells, 1990) is a 12-minute audio recording that was developed to train attention control, so that individuals could learn to shift their attention away from maladaptive cognitive processes such as worry. The technique has shown to be promising at reducing symptoms across a variety of mental disorders (Knowles, Foden, El-Deredy, \& Wells, 2016) and is recommended for use in people who suffer from chronic worry. To date, little research has been conducted examining the benefits of using this technique in such a population. The present study aims to examine the immediate and short term effects of weekly ATT practice, compared to a control condition, in a population that suffers from high levels of worry about a variety of topics. About one-hundred participants who suffer from chronic worry will be randomly assigned to listen to the ATT or a control recording, every day for a week. Changes in attention control, worry, and cognitive processes will be examined over the course of the intervention period.
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
The ATT is a 12-minute audio recording that includes sounds and a voice guiding attention to the sounds. The sounds play continuously during the training task.
In the control condition, participants listen to an audio recording with the same sounds as the ATT recording, and a voice that delivers placebo instructions.