Exploration of the role of emotional expression of treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients having followed virtual reality therapy: a content analysis

BMC Psychiatry

Research

Sabrina Giguère¹  Alexandre Hudon¹  Laura Dellazizzo¹  Stéphane Potvin¹  Alexandre Dumais²  Kingsada Phraxayavong³  Sophie Rodrigues-Coutlée⁴  Veronica Lammatteo⁴ 

[1] Centre de recherche de l’Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Canada;Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada;Centre de recherche de l’Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Canada;Services et Recherches Psychiatriques AD, Montreal, QC, Canada;Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada;Institut national de psychiatrie légale Philippe-Pinel, Montreal, Canada;Services et Recherches Psychiatriques AD, Montreal, QC, Canada;Université de Montréal, Montréal, Qc, Canada;

关键词: Psychotherapy;    Virtual reality therapy;    Auditory hallucinations;    Schizophrenia;    Avatar Therapy;    Emotions;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-023-04861-2

 received in 2023-01-29, accepted in 2023-05-10,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEmotional responses are an important component of psychotherapeutic processes. Avatar therapy (AT) is a virtual reality-based therapy currently being developed and studied for patients suffering from treatment resistant schizophrenia. Considering the importance of identifying emotions in therapeutical processes and their impact on the therapeutic outcome, an exploration of such emotions is needed.MethodsThe aim of this study is to identify the underlying emotions at the core of the patient-Avatar interaction during AT by content analysis of immersive sessions transcripts and audio recordings. A content analysis of AT transcripts and audio recordings using iterative categorization was conducted for 16 patients suffering from TRS who underwent AT between 2017 and 2022 (128 transcripts and 128 audio recordings). An iterative categorization technique was conducted to identify the different emotions expressed by the patient and the Avatar during the immersive sessions.ResultsThe following emotions were identified in this study: Anger, Contempt/ Disgust, Fear, Sadness, Shame/ Embarrassment, Interest, Surprise, Joy and Neutral. Patients expressed mostly neutral, joy and anger emotions whereas the Avatar expressed predominantly interest, disgust/contempt, and neutral emotions.ConclusionsThis study portrays a first qualitative insight on the emotions that are expressed in AT and serves as a steppingstone for further investigation in the role of emotions in the therapeutic outcomes of AT.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023