Anxiety, Behavior Therapy, Social Phobia
Conditions
Brief summary
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) is an efficacious treatment of fear and anxiety, but because of the high financial costs and technical complexity of the past generation of VR hardware, there has been no large-scale implementation of this promising treatment. The present study will investigate whether off-the-shelf, commercial VR hardware and software can be used as stimuli material to conduct in-session exposure therapy for speech anxiety. The study will recruit n=25+25 participants from the general public suffering from substantial speech anxiety, who will be randomized to either a waiting-list, or one-session VRET with a therapist, followed by four weeks of a progressive maintenance program encouraging in-vivo exposure. The waiting-list group will then receive an Internet-delivered VRET treatment program.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALFace-to-face Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy
In session, systematic, hierarchical exposure to feared stimuli with therapist.
BEHAVIORALInternet-administered Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy
Therapist-guided, Internet-administered Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy self-help program
OTHERWaiting-list
Weekly assessments of public speaking
Sponsors
Stockholm University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Substantial public speaking anxiety * Have access to VR-compatible smartphone (including Internet) * Can travel to Stockholm University for treatment on one occasion * Can speak and understand sufficient Swedish
Exclusion criteria
* Deficits in sight or balance impacting the VR-experience * A severe psychiatric disorder better treated elsewhere, including current major depression, alcohol or drug abuse, bipolarity, psychosis or similar * Active psychopharmacological treatment, unless stable for last 3 months * Other ongoing psychological treatment
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Public Speaking Anxiety Scale | Change from baseline: Week 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 21 | Self-rating of public speaking anxiety |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self-Report | Change from baseline: Week 0, 5 and 21 | Self-rating of general social anxiety |
| Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale | Change from baseline: Week 0, 5 and 21 | Self-rating of fear of negative evaluation |
| Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item | Change from baseline: Week 0, 5 and 21 | Self-rating of depressive symptoms |
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item | Change from baseline: Week 0, 5 and 21 | Self-rating of general anxiety symptoms |
| Brunnsviken Brief Quality of life scale | Change from baseline: Week 0, 5 and 21 | Self-rating of quality of life |
Countries
Sweden
Outcome results
None listed