Virtual Reality Exposure Versus In Vivo Exposure for Fear of Heights

University of Notre Dame

Status: Completed

Conditions: Anxiety Disorder; Fear of Heights; Specific Phobia; Acrophobia

Treatments: Behavioral: Exposure Therapy (Virtual Reality); Behavioral: Exposure Therapy (In Vivo)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04737915

Interventional (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study randomly assigned 114 participants with significant fear of heights to one of three conditions: a) a single session of virtual reality exposure; b) a single session of in vivo exposure; or c) a control condition. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of virtual reality exposure to the efficacy of in vivo exposure or no exposure for participants with significant fear of heights.

Enrollment: 114 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Score >= 45 on the Acrophobia Questionnaire (AQ)

Exclusion criteria

• Already receiving therapy specifically for fear of heights.
• Has any contraindications to using a virtual reality headset.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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114 participants in 3 patient groups

Virtual Reality Exposure

Experimental group

Description:

Participants completed a single session of exposure administered via a virtual reality headset. The exposure exercise involved looking over virtual railings into an atrium at various floor levels (the virtual environment was designed to look like the atrium in the in vivo exposure condition). Exposure was conducted in six 6-minute trials for a total of 36 minutes of exposure.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Exposure Therapy (Virtual Reality)

In Vivo Exposure

Experimental group

Description:

Participants completed a single session of exposure administered in vivo. The exposure exercise involved looking over actual railings into an atrium at various floor levels. Exposure was conducted in six 6-minute trials for a total of 36 minutes of exposure.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Exposure Therapy (In Vivo)

Waitlist Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants watched a neutral video during the time participants in other conditions were completing the exposure exercise. Participants received no exposure-based intervention.