Scoping review of the hardware and software features of virtual reality exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and specific phobia

Frontiers in Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality

Johanna Kvist Svendsen¹  Benjamin Arnfred¹  Carsten Horthøj²  Ali Adjourlu³ 

[1] Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health—CORE, Mental Health Center Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hellerup, Denmark;Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health—CORE, Mental Health Center Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hellerup, Denmark;Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark;Multisensory Experience Lab, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark;

关键词: virtual reality exposure therapy;    social anxiety disorder;    agoraphobia;    specific phobia;    virtual reality technology;    scoping review;   

DOI  :  10.3389/frvir.2023.952741

 received in 2022-05-25, accepted in 2023-05-08,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Introduction: The use of virtual reality technology to deliver exposure therapy in the treatment of phobic anxiety (i.e., social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and specific phobia) has been proposed to be advantageous compared with in-vivo exposure therapy. These supposed advantages depend on the features of the virtual reality technology and how it is used therapeutically. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive overview of the features of the hardware and software used in studies examining virtual reality exposure therapy studies for phobic anxiety disorders.Methods: 70 studies using virtual reality exposure therapy to treat social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia and/or specific phobia, were systematically reviewed for 46 data points relating to these features.Results: We found that studies generally did not utilize contemporary virtual reality technology and that hardware and software features were inconsistently delineated.Discussion: The implications of these findings are that the use of modern virtual reality technology represents a relevant frontier in anxiety treatment and that a framework for reporting technical features of virtual reality exposure interventions would benefit the field.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Arnfred, Svendsen, Adjourlu and Horthøj.