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Smartphone-based emotion recognition skills training for alexithymia - A randomized controlled pilot study.

ABSTRACT: Background:Neurobiological studies suggest that deficits in emotion recognition are common phenomena in alexithymia. Thus, effective treatments for alexithymia often include skills training in the domain of emotion recognition. Given that smartphone-based interventions (SBIs) offering skills training have been shown to be promising adjuncts to psychological treatments, a blended SBI facilitating the training of emotional skills might be effective in reducing alexithymia. Methods:In this pilot trial, N?=?29 individuals reporting elevated alexithymia levels were randomly assigned to a blended SBI including a psychoeducation session and 14?days of training with the mindtastic alexithymia app (MT-ALEX) or a psychoeducation-only control condition. Primary outcome was emotion recognition skills as assessed in a computer-based two-choice task paradigm. Results:On average, participating in the SBI was associated with a significant increase in computer-assessed emotion recognition skills compared to the control condition (d?=?0.97). Conclusions:Study findings provide preliminary evidence that SBIs can improve emotion recognition skills in alexithymic individuals. Research using larger samples and targeting clinical populations is necessary to further evaluate the potential of MT-ALEX.

SUBMITTER: Lukas CA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6510700 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Smartphone-based emotion recognition skills training for alexithymia - A randomized controlled pilot study.

Lukas Christian Aljoscha CA Trevisi Fuentes Hugo H Berking Matthias M

Internet interventions 20190430

<h4>Background</h4>Neurobiological studies suggest that deficits in emotion recognition are common phenomena in alexithymia. Thus, effective treatments for alexithymia often include skills training in the domain of emotion recognition. Given that smartphone-based interventions (SBIs) offering skills training have been shown to be promising adjuncts to psychological treatments, a blended SBI facilitating the training of emotional skills might be effective in reducing alexithymia.<h4>Methods</h4>I ...[more]

PMID: 31110950

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Project description:BackgroundDespite potential for benefit, mindfulness remains an emergent area in perinatal mental health care, and evidence of smartphone-based mindfulness training for perinatal depression is especially limited.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a smartphone-based mindfulness training intervention during pregnancy on perinatal depression and other mental health problems with a randomized controlled design.MethodsPregnant adult women who were potentially at risk of perinatal depression were recruited from an obstetrics clinic and randomized to a self-guided 8-week smartphone-based mindfulness training during pregnancy group or attention control group. Mental health indicators were surveyed over five time points through the postpartum period by online self-assessment. The assessor who collected the follow-up data was blind to the assignment. The primary outcome was depression as measured by symptoms, and secondary outcomes were anxiety, stress, affect, sleep, fatigue, memory, and fear.ResultsA total of 168 participants were randomly allocated to the mindfulness training (n=84) or attention control (n=84) group. The overall dropout rate was 34.5%, and 52.4% of the participants completed the intervention. Mindfulness training participants reported significant improvement of depression (group × time interaction χ24=16.2, P=.003) and secondary outcomes (χ24=13.1, P=.01 for anxiety; χ24=8.4, P=.04 for positive affect) compared to attention control group participants. Medium between-group effect sizes were found on depression and positive affect at postintervention, and on anxiety in late pregnancy (Cohen d=0.47, -0.49, and 0.46, respectively). Mindfulness training participants reported a decreased risk of positive depressive symptom (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale [EPDS] score>9) compared to attention control participants postintervention (odds ratio [OR] 0.391, 95% CI 0.164-0.930) and significantly higher depression symptom remission with different EPDS reduction scores from preintervention to postintervention (OR 3.471-27.986). Parity did not show a significant moderating effect; however, for nulliparous women, mindfulness training participants had significantly improved depression symptoms compared to nulliparous attention control group participants (group × time interaction χ24=18.1, P=.001).ConclusionsSmartphone-based mindfulness training is an effective intervention in improving maternal perinatal depression for those who are potentially at risk of perinatal depression in early pregnancy. Nulliparous women are a promising subgroup who may benefit more from mindfulness training.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1900028521; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=33474.

Dataset Information

Smartphone-based emotion recognition skills training for alexithymia - A randomized controlled pilot study.

Publications

Smartphone-based emotion recognition skills training for alexithymia - A randomized controlled pilot study.

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