| Sumario: | Objective: Dual-tasking studies show that emotionality and vividness of aversive memory decrease by engaging in a working memory task and simultaneous recall of that memory. Adding positive valence to a dual task might be a promising innovation in the amelioration of lab-induced memory. However, studies aiming to translate these findings into autobiographical memory of a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) population find conflicting results or show methodological flaws. The current study assesses the benefit of adding positive valence to a dual-tasking procedure in PTSD patients. Method: In a cross-over design PTSD patients (N = 33) recalled their traumatic memory and received the following three conditions in randomized order: rating positive pictures + exposure, rating neutral pictures + exposure, and exposure only. Each of the three conditions consisted of four sets of 1 min. In the first cycle, participants were exposed to each condition in a randomized order, which was then repeated in a second cycle. Before and after each condition, emotionality and vividness were rated on a visual analog scale (VAS), resulting in seven measurement timepoints in total. Results: Firstly, repeated measures ANOVAs showed a time effect: memories were less emotional and vivid after our summed (three) interventions. Secondly, repeated measures ANCOVAs indicated no evidence for differences between the conditions. Conclusions: We did not find evidence for a benefit of adding positive valence to a dual-task procedure in PTSD patients. Clinical Impact Statement: Taxing working memory with a second task while memorizing a traumatic event is an important aspect of current thinking about the working mechanisms of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment. A recent study by Daneshvar et al. (2021) in this journal demonstrated that adding positive valence to the dual task might enhance the reduction of emotionality and vividness of such memories even further. However, in the current study, such an extra beneficial effect of valenced dual-tasking was not found. This should be considered when applying valenced dual-tasking procedures in the treatment of PTSD patients.
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