1 Department of Psychology (PO78), Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
2 South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2019 Jan;22(1):51-59. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2017.0656. Epub 2018 Oct 20.
Virtual reality (VR) enables the real-time assessment of paranoid ideation and of associated social performance. In this two-phase study, we aimed to recruit a general population sample to investigate the association between trait paranoia and cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components of social performance. In phase 1, a general population online survey (N = 609) investigated how trait paranoia related to fear of negative evaluation (FNE), interpersonal sensitivity, social avoidance and distress (SAD), mood, and demographic characteristics. In phase 2, we piloted a new VR social situation paradigm (a party in a bar) with a subsample of participants who scored high or low in trait paranoia. Eighty-nine participants entered the VR party in a bar scenario to evaluate the acceptability of the task and the relationship between paranoid ideation and social performance. As hypothesized, in phase 1, trait paranoia was associated with FNE, SAD, interpersonal sensitivity, mood, and demographics (all small-to-medium effects); in phase 2, participants found the VR environment acceptable and immersive; exposure to the VR environment elicited a range of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components of social performance; and high trait paranoia participants reported higher state paranoia and greater negative components of social performance (all medium effects). The study tests a novel sample recruited predominantly online and validates the virtual environment for psychological assessment and treatment. This result suggests that the new VR scenario could be used as a psychological assessment and treatment tool for people who experience paranoia in social situations.
虚拟现实（VR）能够实时评估妄想观念和相关的社交表现。在这项两阶段研究中，我们旨在招募一个普通人群样本，以调查特质性偏执与社交表现的认知、情感和行为成分之间的关系。在第一阶段，一项普通人群在线调查（N=609）调查了特质性偏执与负面评价恐惧（FNE）、人际敏感、社交回避和苦恼（SAD）、情绪和人口统计学特征之间的关系。在第二阶段，我们对特质性偏执得分高或低的参与者亚组试用了一种新的 VR 社交情境范式（酒吧派对）。89 名参与者进入酒吧场景的 VR 派对，以评估任务的可接受性以及偏执观念与社交表现之间的关系。正如假设的那样，在第一阶段，特质性偏执与 FNE、SAD、人际敏感、情绪和人口统计学特征有关（均为小到中等效应）；在第二阶段，参与者发现 VR 环境可接受且具有沉浸感；暴露于 VR 环境中引发了一系列认知、情感和社交表现行为成分；高特质性偏执参与者报告更高的状态偏执和更大的社交表现负面成分（均为中等效应）。该研究测试了一个主要通过在线招募的新型样本，并验证了用于心理评估和治疗的虚拟环境。这一结果表明，新的 VR 情景可以作为社交情境中出现偏执的人的心理评估和治疗工具。
