Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2020 May 13;22(7):32. doi: 10.1007/s11920-020-01156-1.
This review provides an overview of current methods and important aspects to consider when applying virtual worlds in the treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD).
Different aspects such as dialogs between avatars and patients have been investigated as well as virtual audiences, emotional facial expression, and verbal interaction with avatars. Results of these studies are promising. Few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have investigated the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) in SAD. Unfortunately, most RCTs into the efficacy of VRET in comparison with exposure in vivo in SAD have been conducted with a combination of cognitive interventions and VRET. No differences between these conditions were found, but the pure effect of VRET as a stand-alone treatment has only been investigated in one RCT, wherein VRET was not superior to exposure in vivo. Current research into different facets of SAD and VRET has produced promising results with respect to technological aspects. No differences in efficacy between cognitive behavior therapy and VRET were found, but there is a clear need for studies investigating the efficacy of VRET as a stand-alone treatment and the therapeutic processes involved before this therapy can be disseminated in routine clinical practice.
本文综述了当前在社交焦虑障碍（SAD）治疗中应用虚拟世界时所采用的方法和需要考虑的重要方面。
研究了虚拟世界治疗的不同方面，如虚拟人物与患者之间的对话、虚拟观众、情绪面部表情以及与虚拟人物的言语互动。这些研究结果令人鼓舞。少数随机对照试验（RCT）研究了虚拟现实暴露疗法（VRET）在 SAD 中的疗效。不幸的是，大多数 RCT 比较 VRET 与 SAD 中现场暴露疗法的疗效时，均采用了认知干预和 VRET 的联合治疗。这些条件之间没有发现差异，但 VRET 作为一种独立治疗方法的纯效果仅在一项 RCT 中进行了研究，其中 VRET 并不优于现场暴露疗法。目前针对 SAD 和 VRET 不同方面的研究在技术方面取得了有前景的结果。未发现认知行为疗法与 VRET 之间的疗效差异，但显然需要研究 VRET 作为一种独立治疗方法的疗效以及在此疗法在常规临床实践中推广之前所涉及的治疗过程。
