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Pilot Study of Virtual Reality for Providing Exposure Therapy to Children

Low-Cost, Virtual Reality System to Increase Access to Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03208348
Enrollment
20
Registered
2017-07-05
Start date
2017-09-01
Completion date
2018-01-31
Last updated
2018-04-24

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Brief summary

Drs. from the Mayo Clinic Rochester will plan and execute a feasibility study of the phase I prototype version of the Virtual Reality exposure therapy system. Dr. X, who has significant experience in evaluating patient experiences and opinions of technologies intended to change behavior, will oversee a qualitative study to examine the prototype system. Twenty children with generalized anxiety disorder with perfectionism who have received less than 3 treatment sessions and a parent will be recruited to pilot the Virtual Reality system.

Detailed description

Twenty children with generalized anxiety disorder (perfectionism) who have received less than 3 treatment sessions and a parent will be recruited to pilot the Virtual Reality system. Participants will be identified through the Mayo Clinic Pediatric Anxiety Disorders Clinic (PADC) using purposive sampling methods. Each patient will participate in a single (up to) 2-hour visit, allowing for breaks as needed. Staff from Mayo Clinic HealthCare Policy & Research experienced in qualitative data analysis and not involved with the patients' medical care or development of the prototype system will conduct the study visits. During the first 30 minutes the patient and parent will be introduced to the Virtual Reality system and the rationale for this feasibility study. Next, a therapist from the PADC, all of whom are experienced exposure therapists, will lead the patient through exposure exercises using the Virtual Reality system for up to 30 minutes. During the next period, up to 30 minutes, the therapist will go to a different room and the patient, with support from their parent, will complete exposure exercises using the Virtual Reality system that the therapist directed them to complete. During the exposures the interviewer will observe, code and record the patient's interaction with the Virtual Reality system. The data from the Virtual Reality system will be automatically transmitted to a cloud service running on a local laptop to study the effectiveness of the system's automatic logging capabilities. For the remaining time (up to 30 minutes) the interviewer will interview the patient about his or her experience with the Virtual Reality system and then will ask for observations and opinions from the parent.

Interventions

OTHERPilot Virtual Reality

Exposure to a virtual reality vignette with anxiety rating to support exposure therapy

Sponsors

Mayo Clinic
CollaboratorOTHER
Minnesota HealthSolutions
Lead SponsorINDUSTRY

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

A single group will pilot test a virtual reality system that is designed to support mental health treatment.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
7 Years to 12 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder with perfectionism and have received less than three treatment sessions

Exclusion criteria

* too young to safely and effectively participate with the study materials

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Qualitative response to the system as assessed by observation while using the system and interview following use.through study completion, an average of one day study visitTwenty participants will provide qualitative data about their experience using the system.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Anxiety as assessed by the Subjective Units of Distress Scalethrough study completion, an average of one day study visitAnxiety for each of the twenty participants will be assessed using SUDS prior to and after each time repeating the exposure. Participants will self-select how many times to repeat the exposure during the one day study visit.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026