E-health attentional bias intervention in addiction

Addiction is characterized by high relapse numbers after successful treatment. Cognitive models of addiction suppose that the development and maintenance of addiction can be explained by an imbalance between automatic, impulsive processes and reflective, controlling processes. Research has shown that addicted individuals demonstrate a heightened automatic attention (attentional bias, AB) for ‘their’ substance. That is, their attention is automatically and unintentionally drawn towards information that is related to their addiction, and they have trouble redirecting their attention away from this information. Using computer tasks the strength of this AB can be measured. stronger AB has been associated with greater severity of addiction, poorer treatment outcomes, and increased relapse.
Recently, new techniques have been developed in order to train the automatic attention away from substance information (attentional bias modification, ABM). Importantly, ABM can be effectively delivered via the Internet (iABM), which allows a low-cost, efficient delivery system for this treatment. The proposed project will investigate the (cost)effectiveness of iABM as an add-on to addiction treatment as usual (TAU) (i.e., blended therapy).

We hypothesize that iABM patients, relative to controls, will show less addiction problems, increased health, reduced physical and psychological complaints, and reduced use of health care post-intervention and at 6 & 12 month FU

Further, we hypothesize that the effects on the individual and societal level cause a decrease in societal costs that outweighs the additional costs of the iABM.

We hypothesize that iABM patients, relative to controls, will show less addiction problems, increased health, reduced physical
and psychological complaints, and reduced use of health care post-intervention and at 6 & 12 month FU
Further, we hypothesize that the effects on the individual en societal level cause a decrease in societal costs that outweighs the
additional costs of the iABM

01-03-2016 to 01-03-2017 inclusion of 213 patients

01-03-2016 to 01-07-2017 intervention running

01-07-2017 to 01-01-2018 FU1

01-01-2018 to 01-07-2018 FU2

The iABM is a computerized intervention aimed at modifying automatically triggered attentional processes that have been shown to play a role in addiction which will be delivered at home, in multiple sessions concurrent with and for the duration of TAU.