Virtual reality intervention effects on future self-continuity and delayed reward preference in substance use disorder recovery: pilot study results.

Autor: Shen YI; Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, 355 W 16th St. Ste 4800, Indianapolis, IN 46202 USA.; Department of Psychology, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN USA., Nelson AJ; Half Full Nelson, LLC, Indianapolis, IN USA., Oberlin BG; Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, 355 W 16th St. Ste 4800, Indianapolis, IN 46202 USA.; Department of Psychology, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN USA.; Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN USA.; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indianapolis, IN USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Discover mental health [Discov Ment Health] 2022; Vol. 2 (1), pp. 19. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Sep 15.
DOI: 10.1007/s44192-022-00022-1
Abstrakt: Sustained remission from substance use disorder (SUD) is challenged by high relapse rates, which provides opportunities for novel clinical interventions. Immersive virtual reality (VR) permits delivering synthetic experiences that feel real and actualizes otherwise impossible scenarios for therapeutic benefit. We report on the feasibility of an immersive VR intervention designed to increase valuation of the future by enhancing future self-continuity and leveraging future self-discrepancy with personalized future selves as SUD recovery support. Twenty-one adults in early SUD recovery (< 1 year) interacted with versions of themselves age-progressed fifteen years from two different behavioral trajectories: an SUD Future Self and a Recovery Future Self. The future selves' interactive monologs include personalized details and voice for a lifelike interaction within a time travel vignette. Before and following the intervention, participants rated future self-continuity and performed delay discounting. Following the intervention, daily images of the Recovery Future Self were sent to participants' smartphones for thirty days. The VR intervention generated no adverse events, was well tolerated (presence, liking, and comfort), and significantly increased future self-continuity and delayed reward preference (doubling delay tolerance). The intervention also reduced craving, p s < 0.05. Thirty days later, n  = 18 remained abstinent; importantly, increased future self-similarity persisted. Abstainers' future self-similarity increased following VR. All individual participants showing increased future self-similarity post-VR remained abstinent, and all participants who relapsed showed either reduced or zero effect on future self-similarity. Post-intervention semi-structured interviews revealed emotional engagement with the experience. VR simulation of imagined realities reifies novel clinical interventions that are practicable and personalized. The current study demonstrates an implementation readily applied in the clinic and shows promise for facilitating SUD recovery. Creative collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and VR developers has great potential to revolutionize mental health interventions and expand the range of tools for clinicians targeting SUD and other disorders.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44192-022-00022-1.
Competing Interests: Competing interestsDr. Oberlin and Mr. Nelson, founders of Relate XR, LLC, an STTR NIH applicant, are inventors of a patent filed by Indiana University on the technology described in the manuscript.
(© The Author(s) 2022.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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