It's Not for Everyone: Advancing Research on Cognitive Bias Modification. A Commentary on Wiers et al. (2018)

摘要

THE ARTICLE IN THE PRESENT ISSUE by Wiers and colleagues (2018) provides a thoughtful narrative review of the evidence base for cognitive bias modification (CBM) to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD). Their review aptly disentangles results from human laboratory studies and clinical trials, and in doing so illuminates that CBM may well be an effective adjunctive intervention to promote abstinence among individuals already in treatment for AUD. Although the meta-analysis by Cristea et al. (2016) reached a negative conclusion about the effectiveness of CBM to reduce alcohol use, support for CBM can be found within their results. In particular, Cristea et al. found that across controlled trials with a clinical population already in AUD treatment there was a small effect size (g = .19, p < .05) on improved alcohol outcomes. Wiers et al. effectively highlight this finding by emphasizing that findings from clinical studies are precisely the ones that should be weighted heavily in considering whether to use CBM in real-world applications.