The treatment of fear of flying: a controlled study of imaginal and virtual reality graded exposure therapy

The goal of this study was to determine if virtual reality graded exposure therapy (VRGET) was equally efficacious, more efficacious, or less efficacious, than imaginal exposure therapy in the treatment of fear of flying. Thirty participants (Age=39.8/spl plusmn/9.7) with confirmed DSM-IV diagnosis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics 2002-09, Vol.6 (3), p.218-223
Main Authors: Wiederhold, B.K., Jang, D.P., Gevirtz, R.G., Kim, S.I., Kim, I.Y., Wiederhold, M.D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aerospace Medicine
Aircraft
Behavior
Biomedical imaging
Chronic Disease
Cognitive Therapy - methods
Computer Graphics
Computer Simulation
Desensitization, Psychologic - methods
Ear
Fear - psychology
Feedback
Humans
Imagery (Psychotherapy) - methods
In vivo
Medical diagnostic imaging
Medical treatment
Middle Aged
Phobic Disorders - psychology
Phobic Disorders - therapy
Physiology
Post traumatic stress disorder
Psychiatry
Reproducibility of Results
Self-Assessment
Sensitivity and Specificity
Severity of Illness Index
Sun
Testing
Therapy, Computer-Assisted - methods
Travel - psychology
Treatment Outcome
User-Computer Interface
Virtual reality
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Summary:The goal of this study was to determine if virtual reality graded exposure therapy (VRGET) was equally efficacious, more efficacious, or less efficacious, than imaginal exposure therapy in the treatment of fear of flying. Thirty participants (Age=39.8/spl plusmn/9.7) with confirmed DSM-IV diagnosis of specific phobia fear of flying were randomly assigned to one of three groups: VRGET with no physiological feedback (VRGETno), VRGET with physiological feedback (VRGETpm), or systematic desensitization with imaginal exposure therapy (IET). Eight sessions were conducted once a week. During each session, physiology was measured to give an objective measurement of improvement over the course of exposure therapy. In addition, self-report questionnaires, subjective ratings of anxiety (SUDs), and behavioral observations (included here as flying behavior before beginning treatment and at a three-month posttreatment followup) were included. In the analysis of results, the Chi-square test of behavioral observations based on a three-month posttreatment followup revealed a statistically significant difference in flying behavior between the groups [/spl chi//sup 2/(4)=19.41, p
ISSN:1089-7771
2168-2194
1558-0032
2168-2208
DOI:10.1109/TITB.2002.802378