Comparison of the effectiveness of tDCS and CBT treatments on Attention Bias in overweight people

Overweight is one of the problems in people nowadays, one of which is psychological, especially attentional bias. Different approaches have emerged apart from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of tDCS and CBT on attention bias in overweight people.

The research method used was quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest design and control group. The statistical population of the study included all overweight people referred to Aramesh Psychology Center in Tehran in year 2019. Using purposive sampling method, 36 individuals were selected and randomly divided into three groups based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mean and standard deviation of age was 34.27±6.45 and mean body mass index was 28.12±2.23. The research instrument was standard attentional bias questionnaire. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance.

The results showed that tDCS and CBT were effective on The results showed that between the mean scores of pre-test and post-test tDCS on bias, attention to the component of life goals and the component of food (01.001, 0.001) and the mean of pre-test and post-CBT scores on bias, respectively The components of life goals and the component of foods (0.002, 0.001) have a significant effect, respectively. (05/0≥p). Also, there was no significant difference between the mean score of tDCS and CBT posttest on attention bias (component of life goals and food component, respectively) (p <0.299, p <0.441).

It seems that tDCS and CBT can be used to reduce people's bias in preventing the desire to eat more food. Given that this study has only been studied in one psychology center, it is suggested to investigate it in other centers to enhance the external validity of the research.