Digital Antianxiety Treatment and Cognitive Performance: an Experimental Study

TY - JOUR

T1 - Digital Antianxiety Treatment and Cognitive Performance: an Experimental Study

AU - Cavatorta, Elisa

AU - Grassi, Simona

AU - Lambiris, Mark

PY - 2020/12/15

Y1 - 2020/12/15

N2 - We study the impact of an innovative antianxiety digital treatment on performance in a cognitive demanding task using a randomized control trial design. We exogenously manipulate a cognitive bias associated with anxiety -- the tendency to disproportionately allocate attention to negative stimuli -- in a group of young males and females. We observe that the treatment reduces the cognitive bias of treated females and significantly improves their performance in the cognitive task. Evidence from university examination results taken three months after the intervention suggests that the digital treatment may generate long-lasting benefits.

AB - We study the impact of an innovative antianxiety digital treatment on performance in a cognitive demanding task using a randomized control trial design. We exogenously manipulate a cognitive bias associated with anxiety -- the tendency to disproportionately allocate attention to negative stimuli -- in a group of young males and females. We observe that the treatment reduces the cognitive bias of treated females and significantly improves their performance in the cognitive task. Evidence from university examination results taken three months after the intervention suggests that the digital treatment may generate long-lasting benefits.

M3 - Article

SN - 0014-2921

JO - EUROPEAN ECONOMIC REVIEW

JF - EUROPEAN ECONOMIC REVIEW

ER -