Kahlon Smiti, Lindner Philip, Nordgreen Tine
1Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Haukelandsbakken 15, 5009 Bergen, Norway.
2Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2019 Dec 27;13:47. doi: 10.1186/s13034-019-0307-y. eCollection 2019.
Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) is a common anxiety with onset in adolescence and early adulthood. With the advent of consumer virtual reality (VR) technology, VR-delivered exposure therapy is now a scalable and practical treatment option and has previously been shown to be efficacious with adults. In this non-randomized feasibility and pilot trial, we explore the effect of one-session (90 min) VR-delivered exposure therapy for adolescents (aged 13-16) with PSA.
A total of 27 adolescents were recruited from Norwegian high schools and completed self-report measures of PSA twice prior to treatment, 1 week after treatment, and at 1 and 3 month follow-up. Heart rate was recorded during the treatment session. A low-cost head-mounted VR display with a custom-built VR stimuli material depicting a cultural and age appropriate classroom and audience were used when a series of speech (exposure exercises) were performed.
Linear mixed effects model revealed a significant decrease in PSA symptoms (Cohen's = 1.53) pre-post treatment, and improvements were maintained at follow-ups. Physiological data revealed a small increase in heart rate during exposure tasks. Based on feedback from the adolescents, the feasibility of the intervention was increased during the trial.
The results show that low-cost, consumer VR hardware can be used to deliver efficacious treatment for PSA in adolescents, in a feasible one-session format.
公众演讲焦虑（PSA）是一种常见的焦虑症，发病于青春期和成年早期。随着消费级虚拟现实（VR）技术的出现，基于VR的暴露疗法现在是一种可扩展且实用的治疗选择，并且此前已被证明对成年人有效。在这项非随机的可行性和试点试验中，我们探讨了为期90分钟的单次VR暴露疗法对患有PSA的青少年（13 - 16岁）的效果。
从挪威高中招募了27名青少年，在治疗前、治疗后1周以及1个月和3个月随访时，他们完成了两次PSA的自我报告测量。在治疗过程中记录心率。当进行一系列演讲（暴露练习）时，使用了一种低成本的头戴式VR显示器，配有定制的VR刺激材料，描绘了一个适合文化和年龄的教室及观众场景。
线性混合效应模型显示，治疗前后PSA症状显著减轻（科恩效应量 = 1.53），并且在随访期间症状持续改善。生理数据显示，在暴露任务期间心率略有增加。根据青少年的反馈，在试验期间干预措施的可行性有所提高。
结果表明，低成本的消费级VR硬件可用于以一种可行的单次治疗形式为青少年的PSA提供有效的治疗。
