None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of the study is to investigate whether a virtual reality exposure therapy program, delivered using 360 degree videos, can reduce public speaking anxiety compared to a neutral 360 video control. We expect that the 360 video program will lead to decreased public speaking anxiety at 2 weeks post-intervention compared to the control.
Interventions
Participants will undergo one 20 minute session of virtual reality exposure therapy. Participants will receive psychoeducational material and then make a ten 2-minute impromptu speeches in virtual reality environments, graded in difficulty, presented through 360 videos in a Samsung Gear VR headset. Psychoeducational material involves a 5 minute explanation delivered by an undergraduate student to the participant, explaining about anxiety, how avoidance perpetuates anxiety, and about how exposure
Participants will undergo one 20 minute session of virtual reality exposure therapy. Participants will receive psychoeducational material and then make a ten 2-minute impromptu speeches in virtual reality environments, graded in difficulty, presented through 360 videos in a Samsung Gear VR headset. Psychoeducational material involves a 5 minute explanation delivered by an undergraduate student to the participant, explaining about anxiety, how avoidance perpetuates anxiety, and about how exposure therapy works. Virtual environments will be 360 video recordings of audiences either listening or ignoring the participant, and will be graded/ranked in difficulty, with the participant starting by viewing audiences of 1-2 participants, with the highest level viewing a full audience in an auditorium within the VR headset. There will be a brief break between each speech. A student will deliver the instructions to the participant, and delivered in a university research testing room setting.
Sponsors
UNSW (University of New South Wales)
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
At least moderate public speaking anxiety (> 52 on Public Speaking Anxiety Scale) Do not experience motion sickness Willing to undergo virtual reality exposures
Exclusion criteria
Experience motion sickness Currently receiving treatment for public speaking anxiety
Outcome results
None listed