Virtual reality in the treatment of spider phobia: a controlled study.
This study explored whether virtual reality (VR) exposure therapy was effective in the treatment of spider phobia. We compared a treatment condition vs. a waiting list condition in a between group design with 23 participants. Participants in the VR treatment group received an average of four one-hour exposure therapy sessions. VR exposure was effective in treating spider phobia compared to a control condition as measured with a Fear of Spiders questionnaire, a Behavioural Avoidance Test (BAT), and severity ratings made by the clinician and an independent assessor. Eighty-three percent of patients in the VR treatment group showed clinically significant improvement compared with 0% in the waiting list group, and no patients dropped out. This study shows that VR exposure can be effective in the treatment of phobias.
Garcia-Palacios
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Departamento Psicologia Basica Clinica y Psicobiologia, Universidad Jaume I, Castellon, Spain. azucena@psb.uji.es
Hoffman
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H
Carlin
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Furness
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TA
Botella
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013112:Spiders; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014584:User-Computer Interface