Comparison of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Improving the Attentional Bias to Negative Stimuli in Individuals with Depression Symptoms

The aim of this study was to compare Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on improving the attentional bias to negative stimuli in individuals with depression symptoms. For this purpose, 42 volunteers were selected and were randomly divided into three groups of 14 people. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (DBI) and the Computational Emotional Stroop Test as pretest. Then the first group received CFT according to Gilbert ten-session protocol, the second group received five sessions of anodal tDCS over F3 area with current of 2 mA and 20 minutes duration, along with CFT, and the third group only underwent tDCS. The results of statistical analysis with non-parametric tests showed that there was a significant effect on cognitive bias and no effect on depression symptoms and the effectiveness in the combined group on attention bias was higher than the third group. Therefore, combined intervention and then electrical stimulation intervention are recommended to improve attention bias