The efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy for the treatment of alcohol use disorder among adult males: a randomized controlled trial comparing with acceptance and commitment therapy and treatment as usual

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Psychiatry

Mohammad Farris Iman Leong Bin Abdullah¹  Bingyu Zhang²  Hongdu Deng²  Nurul Izzah Shari³  Ruiling Zhang⁴  Jie Zhang⁴  Chuansheng Wang⁴  Jiali Wang⁴  Shilin Wang⁴ 

[1] Department of Community Health, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia;Department of Community Health, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia;Second Affiliated Hospital, Xinxiang Medical University, Henan, China;School of Human Resource Development and Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia;Second Affiliated Hospital, Xinxiang Medical University, Henan, China;

关键词: alcohol use disorder;    virtual reality exposure therapy;    acceptance and commitment therapy;    randomized controlled trial;    craving;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1215963

 received in 2023-05-02, accepted in 2023-07-31,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThis multicenter, three-armed, parallel, single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) primarily aims to compare the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) with that of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and treatment as usual (TAU) to depreciate the degree of alcohol craving among alcohol use disorder patients who have undergone in-patient detoxification across four timelines (t0 = baseline prior to intervention, t1 = 4 weeks after baseline, t2 = 12 weeks after baseline, and t3 = 24 weeks after baseline). The secondary aims of this RCT are to compare the efficacy of VRET with that of ACT and TAU to alleviate the severity of alcohol use disorder, dissipate comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms, and normalize event-related potential (ERP) in electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring across the four timelines.MethodsInitially, after 2 weeks of in-patient detoxification, 120 patients with alcohol use disorder will be randomized into three groups (VRET, ACT, and TAU control groups) via stratified permuted block randomization in a 1:1:1 ratio. Baseline assessment (t0) commences, whereby all the participants will be administered with sociodemographic, clinical, and alcohol use characteristics questionnaire, such as Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), while event-related potential (ERP) detection in electroencephalogram (EEG) will also be carried out. Then, 4 weeks of VRET, ACT, and non-therapeutic supportive activities will be conducted in the three respective groups. For the subsequent three assessment timelines (t1, t2, and t3), the alcohol use characteristic questionnaire, such as AUDIT, PACS, HAM-D, HAM-A, and ERP monitoring, will be re-administered to all participants.DiscussionAs data on the effects of non-pharmacological interventions, such as VRET and ACT, on the treatment of alcohol craving and preventing relapse in alcohol use disorder are lacking, this RCT fills the research gap by providing these important data to treating clinicians. If proven efficacious, the efficacy of VRET and ACT for the treatment of other substance use disorders should also be investigated in future.Clinical trial registrationNCT05841823 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Deng, Zhang, Wang, Zhang, Wang, Wang, Zhang, Shari and Leong Bin Abdullah.