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Efficacy of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Scripts for Social Phobia

NCT04850989 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 44

Last updated 2025-05-13

Study results available
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Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy virtual reality videos to facilitate exposure therapy in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The exposure therapy videos are the focus of this experiment. Essentially, we are testing the efficacy of the Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) scripts (i.e., virtual scenarios, people, and interactions that we expose socially anxious people to). To this end, the goal of the current study is to help people with social anxiety overcome their phobias. Individuals who experience a difficult time building social relationships, accomplishing everyday tasks, or pursuing job interviews can practice those same behaviors in a controlled environment. Specifically, we aim to test the following hypotheses: (1) Virtual reality exposure therapy intervention (vs. waitlist control condition) is effective for treating SAD symptoms. (2) Participants who received the VRET will experience maintenance of treatment gains following 3-month and 6-month post-termination of treatment. (3) Users of the virtual reality exposure therapy will demonstrate high amounts of acceptability of the treatment.

Conditions

Interventions

DEVICE

Pico Goblin VR headset

We worked with Limbix to tailor content on a Pico Goblin VR headset by creating two exposure therapy themes (general social skills training/dinner party or job interview) based on CBT principles and literature. The Pico Goblin VR headset projected a 5.5-inch diagonal screen size (depth: 139.7 mm; height: 122mm; width: 68mm) with 2560 x 1440-pixel resolution, 3 degrees of freedom, 92° field of view, a refresh rate of 70Hz, and 54-71mm interpupillary distance (Kyoto, 2017). It was chosen because displays of the pre-recorded VRE videos could be smoothly operated wirelessly with a tablet that showed the selected scenes in real-time. Further, the headset could be conveniently switched on and off, and dovetailed the participant's head motion. These scenes were filmed with a 360° stereoscopic camera, each lasting between 1.5 to 10 min.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Limbix Health, Inc.

    collaborator INDUSTRY

  • Penn State University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Michelle G. Newman, Ph.D. · The Pennsylvania State University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2018-12-18
Primary Completion
2020-12-31
Completion
2020-12-31
FDA Device
Yes

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04850989 on ClinicalTrials.gov