Effectiveness of XR-Based Exposure Therapy for Phobic Disorders

Abstract

Research on anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) indicates that virtual reality and related technologies are effective tools for therapy. Given the similar underlying mechanism of these disorders to phobias, it is thought by researchers in mental health care that VR-based exposure therapies would have similar treatment outcomes. The purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of XR-based exposure therapy using physiological markers in combination with patient perceptions of phobic response. The primary research question for this study is as follows: what is the effectiveness of an XR-based exposure treatment for phobic disorder? Forty-five participants (22 males and 23 females) took part in the study. Results from the repeated measures analysis of variance illustrate statistically significant differences over time in the main effect of group. The three groups are (1) XR exposure, (2) traditional exposure, and (3) time-delay comparison. Results illustrate that XR-based exposure therapy offers multiple advantages over in vivo and imaginative exposure.