Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Mental Health
Date Submitted: Jul 10, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: Jul 15, 2018 - Sep 9, 2018
Date Accepted: Nov 10, 2018
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Believing is Seeing: A proof-of-concept study on using mobile Virtual Reality to boost the effects of Interpretation Bias Modification for anxiety
ABSTRACT
Background:
Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretations (CBM-I) is a computerized intervention designed to change negatively biased interpretations of ambiguous information, which underlie and reinforce anxiety. The repetitive and monotonous features of CBM-I can negatively impact on training adherence and learning processes.
Objective:
This proof-of-concept study examined whether performing a CBM-I training using mobile Virtual Reality technology (VR-CBM-I) improves training experience and effectiveness.
Methods:
Forty-two students high in trait anxiety completed one session of either VR-CBM-I or standard CBM-I training for performance anxiety. Participants’ feelings of immersion and presence, emotional reactivity, and changes in interpretation bias and state anxiety were assessed.
Results:
The VR-CBM-I resulted in greater feelings of presence and immersion in the training scenarios and outperformed the standard training in effects on state anxiety and emotional reactivity. Both training-varieties successfully increased the endorsement of positive interpretations and decreased negative ones. In addition, changes in the emotional outcomes were correlated with greater feelings of immersion.
Conclusions:
Our findings hold promise for the further investigation of VR as a tool to boost the effects of CMB-I trainings for highly anxious individuals.
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.