Year: 2018
Type: review
Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis
Abstract: Social anxiety is a common, debilitating psychological problem. In the present study, two meta-analyses examined the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy for social anxiety. The first meta-analysis tested whether virtual reality exposure therapy reduces social anxiety more than a waitlist control condition. The results of the first meta-analysis, consisting of six studies and 233 participants, showed a significant overall effect size, indicating that virtual reality exposure therapy was effective in reducing social anxiety. The second meta-analysis tested whether the standard treatment for social anxiety, which includes in vivo or imaginal exposure, leads to greater effects than virtual reality exposure therapy. The second meta-analysis, consisting of seven studies and 340 total participants, showed essentially no difference in effect sizes between virtual reality exposure and in vivo or imaginal exposure. The results of the two meta-analyses support the use of virtual reality in the treatment of social anxiety.
Source: Behaviour Change
DOI: 10.1017/bec.2018.15
Institution: University of New England
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2809485580