title: A randomized, controlled clinical trial of in virtuo and in vivo exposure for spider phobia.
abstract: The present study compared the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) in virtuo exposure and in vivo exposure in the treatment of spider phobia. Two treatment conditions were compared to a waiting-list condition. A 3-month follow-up evaluation was conducted in order to assess the durability of the treatment effects. Participants were randomly assigned to the treatment groups. A total of 16 participants received the in virtuo treatment, and 16 received the in vivo treatment. The waiting-list condition included 11 participants. Participants received eight 1.5-hour treatment sessions. Efficacy was measured with the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire, the Spider Beliefs Questionnaire (SBQ-F), and a Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT). In addition, a clinician administered the Structured Interview for DSM-IV to assess DSM-IV's criteria for specific phobia and severity. Clinical and statistically significant improvements were found for both groups. Differences in treatment groups were found on one of five measures of fear: greater improvement on the SBQ-F beliefs subscale was associated with in vivo exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. david.michaliszyn@gmail.com
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Michaliszyn
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marchand
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouchard
authors.forename: Marc-Olivier
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Martel
authors.forename: Joannie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poirier-Bisson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D057194:Intention to Treat Analysis; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013112:Spiders; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014584:User-Computer Interface