Recent research published in behavioral research and treatment Our results suggest that a self-guided digital mental imagery program is successful in reducing anxiety levels in college students. Although this intervention helps individuals vividly imagine achieving their personal goals, it tends to reduce motivation to avoid stressful situations. This provides evidence that practicing positive, multisensory mental imagery can be an effective and accessible tool for managing anxiety before clinical treatment is required.
Anxiety disorders are a major public health challenge worldwide, especially among university students. Anxiety is often caused by a cycle of excessive worrying that amplifies people’s perceptions of threat. When experiencing such anxiety, people often rely on safety behaviors, that is, actions taken to avoid the perceived threat.
Although these safety behaviors provide immediate relief, they tend to maintain or worsen anxiety over time by reinforcing fear. They prevent individuals from becoming accustomed to anxiety and realizing that the threat is not as bad as they think.
Traditional treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy are effective at breaking this cycle, but require hours of contact with a trained professional. Because many students have limited access to treatment, the scientists wanted to test a preventive, voluntary approach. They incorporated a technique called functional imagery training into a digital program designed to reduce anxiety.
“Everyone feels anxious at times. When anxiety becomes a persistent problem, a cycle of thoughts, feelings and actions creates anxiety,” said study author Jackie Andrade, professor of psychology at the University of Plymouth and head of the Functional Imagery Training Research Group.
“For example, a person with social anxiety may think about attending a party, think of all the things that could go wrong socially, realize their anxiety levels have increased, and decline the invitation. This ‘safety behavior’ of avoiding the anxiety-provoking activity results in an immediate reduction in anxiety, leading to a sense of relief that the immediate problem has been avoided.”
“But it feeds the cycle of anxiety by reinforcing the idea that social situations are extremely difficult and can only be dealt with by staying away. Instead, participate in the event, discover that it’s not impossible to deal with, and practice coping skills so that thinking of your next social invitation doesn’t feel so difficult.”
“We have developed a new approach to managing anxiety that may prevent anxiety from reaching levels that require professional treatment,” Andrade continued. “Our approach is called Functional Image Training, or FIT for short. We shift the focus from the reason for the anxiety to the person’s life goals and values, and how engagement activities can help achieve those goals.”
“FIT helps a person develop and practice a multisensory mental image of how they strive toward that goal and how good it feels to achieve it. This process builds motivation to engage with anxiety-provoking situations, and in doing so reduces motivation to avoid anxiety. FIKA (Functional Imagery to Keep Anxiety Low) is a self-directed version of FIT designed to teach this skill of imagining positive future outcomes.”
To explore how users experienced this new digital tool, scientists conducted an initial qualitative study. They recruited 12 female college students who self-identified as having anxiety. Researchers measured participants’ anxiety levels using a standard seven-item questionnaire. This survey assesses how often people feel nervous, irritable, or unable to stop worrying.
After completing the initial assessment, participants were able to access the digital program and use it at their own pace over a two-week period. The program consisted of seven short modules that included video instructions, diary tasks, and guided audio exercises. In this exercise, we asked users to identify a personal goal and use all five senses to imagine how it would feel to achieve it.
Participants were encouraged to practice this mental imagery in normal daily activities, such as preparing a hot drink. During the third week, researchers interviewed 10 participants who successfully completed the study. Interviews were audio recorded and analyzed to find common themes in users’ experiences.
Interview data provided evidence that participants felt the program was caring and gentle. Many people reported that practicing mental imagery calmed them down and helped them see their situations more rationally. By creating a calm mental space, participants were able to distance themselves from negative thoughts that fueled their anxiety.
Quantitative data from the survey supports these qualitative reports. On average, participants’ anxiety scores decreased from a level of moderate anxiety to mild anxiety. Eight of the 10 participants completely changed their anxiety severity to a lower category.
Following this initial study, the researchers conducted a second study to test the program on a control group. They recruited 60 undergraduate students who had experienced anxiety that interfered with their daily lives. Participants completed the same baseline anxiety questionnaire and were randomly assigned to either receive the digital program immediately or be placed on a waiting list.
Waitlist participants were told that they would be given access to the program at the end of the study period. Data from participants who did not meet the threshold for at least mild anxiety were excluded, leaving 48 participants for the final analysis. This left 25 students in the intervention group and 23 students in the waitlist group.
The intervention group completed the digital module over 2 weeks, while the waitlist group did not receive the intervention during this time. All participants then completed the anxiety questionnaire again. Researchers found that the digital intervention significantly reduced anxiety compared to a waitlist control.
Participants who completed the program experienced an average reduction in symptoms of 6.40 points on the anxiety scale. Those on the waiting list did not see significant changes in their anxiety levels. This provides evidence that the reduction in anxiety was caused by the digital intervention itself, rather than a natural change over time.
Program engagement was higher in the intervention group. Of the 25 participants, 21 completed all seven modules and 23 practiced mental imagery between sessions. When asked to rate this program, the majority of users said they would use it again and would recommend it to others.
Many participants specifically noted that setting achievable goals and imagining positive future outcomes helps them stay motivated. Several participants also emphasized that writing down their emotions in a diary helped them manage their emotions. At the same time, some users noted that facing the reality of anxiety on paper is an unpleasant challenge.
“We succeeded in our goal of reducing anxiety to a manageable level,” Andrade told SciPost. “FIKA reduced college students’ anxiety from an average score of moderate anxiety to an average score of mild anxiety. Qualitative feedback found that participants found positive future imagery to be a useful mental skill to help keep things positive, and found the FIT approach to be caring and gentle.”
Although the findings are promising, there are some common misconceptions to avoid. Scientists point out that functional imagery training is not the same as self-hypnosis or basic visualization. Instead, this technique requires multisensory imagery, which creates a stronger emotional connection than simply imagining the goal.
Some people may be worried that they won’t be able to use this program unless they can visualize images. Approximately 2 to 4 percent of the population experiences aphantasia, a complete lack of visual imagination. However, researchers suggest that these people may still benefit from using other senses, such as imagining sounds or physical feelings associated with the goal. “John Rhodes from the University of Plymouth published a study showing that FIT can also be beneficial for people with aphantasia,” Andrade noted.
This study also has some limitations that need to be considered. The follow-up period was very short, only about 3 weeks for most participants. Because of this short duration, it remains unclear whether self-guided mental imagery training results in long-term anxiety reduction.
Some users found the program time-consuming and struggled to practice mental imagery during moments of high anxiety. In the future, the scientists plan to evaluate the self-guided program in real-world situations over longer periods of time. They also hope to directly compare its effectiveness with other established digital treatments for anxiety.
The study, “Self-Guided Functional Imagery Training to Reduce Anxiety,” was authored by Jackie Andrade, Stephanie Hartgen-Walker, Caroline Morgan, Ayan, Idil Aytekin, Khadijah Sekoni, Kardelen Sengul, and Jonathan Rhodes.
