Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014;38(2):132-145.
doi: 10.1007/s10608-014-9598-8.

Positive Imagery Cognitive Bias Modification in Treatment-Seeking Patients with Major Depression in Iran: A Pilot Study

Hajar Torkan  1 , Simon E Blackwell  2 , Emily A Holmes  2 , Mehrdad Kalantari  3 , Hamid Taher Neshat-Doost  3 , Mohsen Maroufi  4 , Hooshang Talebi  5
Affiliations

Positive Imagery Cognitive Bias Modification in Treatment-Seeking Patients with Major Depression in Iran: A Pilot Study

Hajar Torkan et al. Cognit Ther Res. 2014.

Abstract

Cognitive bias modification paradigms training positive mental imagery and interpretation (imagery CBM-I) hold promise for treatment innovation in depression. However, depression is a global health problem and interventions need to translate across settings and cultures. The current pilot study investigated the impact of 1 week of daily imagery CBM-I in treatment-seeking individuals with major depression in outpatient psychiatry clinics in Iran. Further, it tested the importance of instructions to imagine the positive training materials. Finally, we examined the effects of this training on imagery vividness. Thirty-nine participants were randomly allocated to imagery CBM-I, a non-imagery control program, or a no treatment control group. Imagery CBM-I led to greater improvements in depressive symptoms, interpretive bias, and imagery vividness than either control condition at post-treatment (n = 13 per group), and improvements were maintained at 2-week follow-up (n = 8 per group). This pilot study provides first preliminary evidence that imagery CBM-I could provide positive clinical outcomes in an Iranian psychiatric setting, and further that the imagery component of the training may play a crucial role.

Keywords: Cognitive bias modification; Computerized interventions; Depression; Interpretive bias; Mental imagery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Hajar Torkan, Simon E. Blackwell, Emily A. Holmes, Mehrdad Kalantari, Hamid Taher Neshat-Doost, Mohsen Maroufi, and Hooshang Talebi declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association . Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Text revision. 4. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2000.
    1. Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown GK. The Beck depression inventory. 2. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation; 1996.
    1. Berna C, Lang TJ, Goodwin GM, Holmes EA. Developing a measure of interpretation bias for depressed mood: An ambiguous scenarios test. Personality and Individual Differences. 2011;51(3):349–354. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2011.04.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blackwell SE, Holmes EA. Modifying interpretation and imagination in clinical depression: A single case series using cognitive bias modification. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 2010;24(3):338–350. doi: 10.1002/acp.1680. - DOI
    1. Blackwell SE, Rius-Ottenheim N, Schulte-van Maaren YWM, Carlier IVE, Middlekoop VD, Zitman FG, Spinhoven P, Holmes EA, Giltay EJ. Optimism and mental imagery: A possible cognitive marker to promote wellbeing? Psychiatry Research. 2013;206:56–61. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2012.09.047. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources