RT Journal Article
T1 CBT and positive psychology interventions for clinical depression promote healthy attentional biases: An eye-tracking study
A1 Vázquez Valverde, Carmelo José
A1 Duque, Almudena
A1 Blanco Martínez, Iván
A1 Pascual, Teodoro
A1 Poyato, Natalia
A1 López-Goómez, Irene
A1 Chaves Vélez, Covadonga
AB BackgroundAlthough there is a growing interest in the role of attentional biases in depression, there are no studies assessing changes in these biases after psychotherapeutic interventions.MethodsWe used a validated eye-tracking procedure to assess pre–post therapy changes in attentional biases toward emotional information (i.e., happy, sad, and angry faces) when presented with neutral information (i.e., neutral faces). The sample consisted of 75 participants with major depression or dysthymia. Participants were blindly assigned to one of two 10 weekly sessions of group therapy: a cognitive behavior therapy intervention (N = 41) and a positive psychology intervention (N = 34).ResultsBoth treatments were equally efficacious in improving depressive symptoms (p = .0001, η² = .68). A significant change in attentional performance after therapy was observed irrespective of the intervention modality. Comparison of pre–post attentional measures revealed a significant reduction in the total time of fixations (TTF) looking at negative information (i.e., sad and angry faces) and a significant increase in the TTF looking at positive information (i.e., happy faces)—all p < .02.ConclusionsFindings reveal for the first time that psychotherapeutic interventions are associated with a significant change in attentional biases as assessed by a direct measure of attention. Furthermore, these changes seem to operate in the same direction typically found in healthy populations (i.e., a bias away from negative information and a parallel bias toward positive information). These findings illustrate the importance of considering attentional biases as clinical markers of depression and suggest the viability of modifying these biases as a potential tool for clinical change.
PB Wiley
SN 1091-4269
YR 2018
FD 2018
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/98442
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/98442
LA eng
NO Vazquez, Carmelo, et al. «CBT and Positive Psychology Interventions for Clinical Depression Promote Healthy Attentional Biases: An Eye-Tracking Study». Depression and Anxiety, vol. 35, n.o 10, octubre de 2018, pp. 966-73. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22786.
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (España)
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 4 sept 2025