Testing a Novel Attention Based Training Prevention Strategy for First Responders: FirstFocus a Mobile App

NCT ID: NCT07247149

Last Updated: 2025-12-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 80 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-11-15
• Study Completion Date: 2026-12-01

Brief Summary

First responders are frequently exposed to high-stress and traumatic events, putting them at increased risk for mental health challenges such as posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. Access to traditional mental health services is often hindered by stigma, time constraints, and a lack of tailored resources. Mobile app-based interventions offer a promising solution due to their accessibility and potential to address mental health proactively and in a time sensitive way. Attention training has emerged as a simple way to prevent distress and the emergence of future mental health concerns. The proposed research will test a mobile app: FirstFocus which will leverage targeted attention training to prevent stress/distress during shifts and enhance the wellbeing of rural first responders. The specific aims are to (1) test the feasibility and acceptability of FirstFocus as an intervention for rural first responders; (2) to test the short-term preventative efficacy of attention training on state stress/distress and its longer-term efficacy for improving professional quality of life and reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Conditions

Wellbeing

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Attention Training Baseline Start

Participants in this arm will begin ABM at the start of the study.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Attention Bias Modification

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Attention training involves 80 training trials. The task uses words developed specifically for this study with fear words such as "crash" and "car" and neutral words such as "couch" and "can" that are balanced for length and frequency. Additionally, on every trial the location of the probe is the same as the location of the fear word. Participants press the button corresponding to the direction of the probe. The training takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Attention Training Week 1 Start

Participants in this arm will begin ABM 1 week after the start of the study.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Attention Bias Modification

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Attention training involves 80 training trials. The task uses words developed specifically for this study with fear words such as "crash" and "car" and neutral words such as "couch" and "can" that are balanced for length and frequency. Additionally, on every trial the location of the probe is the same as the location of the fear word. Participants press the button corresponding to the direction of the probe. The training takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Attention Training Week 2 Start

Participants in this arm will begin ABM 2 weeks after the start of the study.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Attention Bias Modification

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Attention training involves 80 training trials. The task uses words developed specifically for this study with fear words such as "crash" and "car" and neutral words such as "couch" and "can" that are balanced for length and frequency. Additionally, on every trial the location of the probe is the same as the location of the fear word. Participants press the button corresponding to the direction of the probe. The training takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Attention Training Week 3 Start

Participants in this arm will begin ABM 3 weeks after the start of the study.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Attention Bias Modification

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Attention training involves 80 training trials. The task uses words developed specifically for this study with fear words such as "crash" and "car" and neutral words such as "couch" and "can" that are balanced for length and frequency. Additionally, on every trial the location of the probe is the same as the location of the fear word. Participants press the button corresponding to the direction of the probe. The training takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Interventions

Attention Bias Modification

Attention training involves 80 training trials. The task uses words developed specifically for this study with fear words such as "crash" and "car" and neutral words such as "couch" and "can" that are balanced for length and frequency. Additionally, on every trial the location of the probe is the same as the location of the fear word. Participants press the button corresponding to the direction of the probe. The training takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 18 or older
• Employed as an Active First Responder
• iPhone mobile device
• Located in a rural part of the US

Exclusion Criteria

• Works less than 20 hours/week on average

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Palo Alto University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Mikael Rubin

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Palo Alto University

Palo Alto, California, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

2025-024-PAU

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id