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VR-Moodboost; an Innovative Virtual Reality Treatment for Adolescents With Depression

NCT05486676 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 12

Last updated 2026-04-14

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent and disabling mental health condition. A recent meta-analysis shows that across all forms of psychotherapy, only 43% of all depressive patients fully recover from MDD and relapse rates are high. Therefore, there is a strong need for innovative interventions with better treatment outcomes. Most traditional psychotherapies for depression focus on reducing negative affect. However, in patients suffering from depression, anhedonia, or loss of positive affect, is associated with poor prognosis and increased chance of suicide. Recent studies show promising results for novel psychotherapies with a focus on enhancing positive affect. Experimental studies indicate that non-verbal stimuli have a stronger impact on activation of positive affect than verbal stimuli, which makes Virtual reality (VR) a promising tool to enhance positive affect. For the current study the investigators developed an innovative VR treatment protocol to enhance positive affect and reduce depressive symptoms in patients with MDD.

This study will include 10 adolescents aged 15 to 23 years old, who have a diagnosis of unipolar mild to severe depression. A trained psychologist will perform the VR-Moodboost intervention in twelve weekly sessions.

The overall aim of this explorative proof-of-concept study is to provide first evidence that treatment with VR-Moodboost will lead to symptom improvement in adolescents with depression. The investigators hypothesize that VR-Moodboost will lead to an increase in positive affect, daily positive mood and a decrease in negative affect and daily negative mood in adolescents with mild to severe depression. Secondary, the investigators hypothesize that the VR-moodboost will lead to a decrease of depressive symptoms, an increase in daily activation, an increase in quality of life and an increase of self-efficacy for the participating patients. Moreover, the investigators hypothesize that VR-Moodboost leads to high patient acceptability and high usability for both patient and therapist.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

VR-Moodboost; a Virtual Reality intervention for depression to enhance positive affect and reduce depressive symptoms.

All participants receive the same VR-Moodboost treatment, they only differ in the length of the baseline; 3 or 5 weeks.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • GGZ Delfland

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • Claudi Bockting

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Claudi LH Bockting, PhD · Department of Psychiatry, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Centre for Urban Mental Health, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
15 Years
Max Age
23 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2022-07-25
Primary Completion
2026-03-02
Completion
2026-03-02

Countries

  • Netherlands

Study Locations

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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 NCT05486676 on ClinicalTrials.gov