2013: Attention processes in chronic fatigue syndrome: Attentional bias for health-related threat an

[Dolphin]

Others, particularly Esther12, have made most of the points I was going to make.

I thought I'd highlight this from the discussion. I'm very uncomfortable about any suggestions that people should have their thoughts modified such as with what they suggest:

Third, a novel computer-based intervention has been developed, namely, attention bias modification training, which is specifically aimed at reducing attentional bias to threat stimuli (Hallion & Ruscio, 2011; MacLeod & Mathews, 2012). Combining such training with CBT may also benefit this subgroup of CFS patients. Thus, it would seem useful for future research to examine the extent to which attentional variables, such as attentional bias towards threat and poor executive attention control, predict treatment response to CBT in CFS sufferers, given that their response to CBT is variable; and also to design attention modification tasks aimed at improving executive attention and reducing attentional bias to threat, which may help enhance treatment effects of CBT for CFS.

 

[Esther12]

Nice to have you double check @Dolphin .

True to say that it's worrying that they could think that these results could justify any particular medical intervention. The whole thing seemed pretty dodgy to me.

 

[Esther12]

I didn;t think that this was worth another thread, but worth posting up here.

From 2010:

Mood volatility with rumination but neither attentional nor interpretation biases in chronic fatigue syndrome

1. Maryanne Martin and
2. Iana Alexeeva*
   
   

Objectives. This study tested whether (1) chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) individuals have a bias in the initial orientation of attention to illness-related information, which is enhanced by rumination. (2) CFS individuals have an illness interpretation bias (IB) in their early automatic processing of ambiguous information. (3) CFS individuals experience a greater degree of mood fluctuation following rumination and distraction inductions.

Design. Thirty-three CFS participants who had received a medical practitioner's diagnosis of CFS were compared to 33 healthy matched controls on an exogenous cueing task and a lexical decision task.

Method. All participants underwent either a rumination or distraction induction. They then completed an exogenous cueing task to assess bias to illness and social threat compared with neutral stimuli, as well as a lexical decision task to assess their interpretation of ambiguous words having illness, social threat, or neutral interpretations.

Results. Reaction time data revealed that CFS individuals did not have an attentional bias (AB) in the initial orientation of attention to illness-related material. Nor was there an IB towards illness in CFS individual's automatic response to ambiguous information. However, as hypothesized, CFS individuals showed a greater degree of mood fluctuation following the rumination/distraction induction.

Conclusion. Rumination and distraction lead to greater mood volatility in CFS individuals than in controls, but not to attentional nor interpretation biases in the early automatic stages of information processing in CFS individuals.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/135910709X480346/abstract