Virtual Reality Intervention for Fear of Heights

Boston University Charles River Campus

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Acrophobia

Treatments: Behavioral: Exposure Intervention With No Music Induction; Behavioral: Exposure Intervention Plus Music Induction

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06468878

7169E

Details and patient eligibility

About

Exposure-based cognitive behavior therapy is an efficacious treatment for acrophobia (fear of heights) and has been delivered effectively in a virtual reality (VR) environment. The present study is designed to evaluate the effects of liked, non-lyrical background music on the efficacy of a brief VR exposure intervention.

Full description

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare acrophobia (fear of heights) outcomes for VR exposure therapy in college students with elevated acrophobia when listening to music during exposure versus no music. The overarching aim of the current study is to determine how liked, non-lyrical background music will influence acrophobia outcomes after a brief exposure therapy session in VR.

The study involves three phases: (1) initial screening, (2) in-person assessment and a brief exposure intervention for a subset of participants with elevated acrophobia, and (3) a one-week follow-up assessment conducted online. Students who choose to participate and screen high on an acrophobia scale will be assigned to an experimental or control condition prior to undergoing VR based exposure therapy. Acrophobia outcomes are measured immediately post-intervention and one week later.

Researchers will compare participants in the music condition to participants in the non-music condition to see if acrophobia outcomes differ.

Enrollment: 44 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Self-report of 18 years of age or older
• Current student at Boston University
• Ability to read English to provide informed consent
• Familiarity with a computer keyboard and mouse or a touch screen device (e.g. phone, tablet)
• For Phase 2: Acrophobia score of ≥ 45.45 on the Acrophobia Questionnaire (AQ) Anxiety Subscale

Exclusion criteria

• Previous participation (i.e. no participant may take the survey more than once).

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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44 participants in 2 patient groups

Exposure Intervention with Non-Lyrical, Liked Background Music

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will be presented with a list of instrumental songs without lyrics from popular movies. Participants will then rank the songs in order of those they would like to hear the most. During VR heights exposure the participants' highest-ranked songs will be played in the background at a low volume.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Exposure Intervention Plus Music Induction

Exposure Intervention without Background Music

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will undergo VR heights exposure without background music.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Exposure Intervention With No Music Induction