title: Impact of the temporal stability of preexistent attentional bias for threat on its alteration through attention bias modification.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Attention bias modification (ABM) aims to reduce attentional bias for threat (AB), thereby diminishing anxiety symptoms. However, recent meta-analyses indicated mixed effects. Recent works suggest that the presence of AB prior to ABM can be considered as a critical moderating factor that may account for these mixed results.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed AB among highly trait-anxious individuals (n = 77) using both a face-version and a word-version of the dot-probe task at multiple time points: two weeks before ABM (t1), just prior to ABM (t2), and after ABM (t3). All participants were submitted to an ABM procedure including facial expressions. Analyses focused on 2 components of AB prior to ABM: a stable component, representing variance shared between the two baseline points (t1 and t2), and a dynamic component, representing variance that is specific to that point (t1 or t2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The stable component of AB at baseline predicted the intensity of AB after ABM (t3) while the dynamic component did not. The dynamic component of AB at baseline positively predicts performance improvement during ABM procedure, while the stable component negatively predicted it.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings depicted above only appear with the face-version of the dot-probe task.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present results highlight the contribution of both the stable individual differences and dynamic components of preexistent AB. They also show the importance of moving the conceptualization of AB beyond the group-based analysis by integrating the notion and the assessment of within-person variability.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychological Science, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Electronic address: Alexandre.Heeren@uclouvain.be.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heeren
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychological Science, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Philippot
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ernst H W
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Koster
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D001244:Association; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D015982:Bias; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anxiety; Attention bias modification; Attentional bias for threat; Cognitive bias modification; Static-score; Within-person variability