title: Using virtual humans to alleviate social anxiety: preliminary report from a comparative outcome study.
abstract: Empirical studies have consistently shown the effectiveness of a multicomponent CBT treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Previous outcome studies on virtual reality and SAD have focused on people suffering from fear of public speaking and not full blown SAD. In this study, 45 adults receiving a DSM-IV-TR diagnostic of social anxiety were randomly assigned to traditional CBT treatment (with in vivo exposure), CBT-VR combined treatment, or a waiting list. Results show significant reduction of anxiety on all questionnaires as well as statistically significant interactions between both treatment groups and the waiting list.
authors.affiliation: Université du Québec en Outaouais, Genevieve.Robillard@uqo.ca
authors.forename: Genevève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Robillard
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouchard
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dumoulin
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guitard
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Klinger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D014584:User-Computer Interface