| Popis: |
To date, research examining the mechanisms of change underlying virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) has been scarce. Nonetheless, it has been assumed that the effects of VRET are driven by the same underlying mechanisms as exposure in vivo. Currently, the most influential theory underlying in vivo exposure is the inhibitory learning theory (ILT), which suggests that expectancy violation (e.g., mismatch between expected vs actual outcomes) is a significant driver of positive treatment outcomes (Craske et al., 2014). At first glance, this appears to pose a paradox given that although VRET is effective for various disorders, expectancy violation cannot (always) be produced by VRET, simply because it does not entail a real situation. In this preliminary study we want to investigate whether there are verbal instructions by which we can influence the extent to which expectancy violation occurs during virtual exposure and whether that is linked to symptom reduction. More specifically, the aim of this study is to investigate whether emphasizing to participants, right before exposure, that certain aversive outcomes simply cannot occur in VR, has an effect on expectancy violation and public speaking anxiety. Moreover, given that certain expectancies can occur in VR (e.g., “I will go blank during my presentation”), while others cannot (e.g., “the audience will think I am stupid”), we also aim to explore whether certain types of expectancies (e.g., expectancies related to your own behavior and reactions) are better testable in VR than others and to what extent that is possibly linked to symptom reduction. All participants will undergo a single-exposure session in VR with 4 brief public speaking exercises. Approximately one week after this, they will be invited for a brief follow-up session where they will be asked to do a behavioral avoidance task (BAT) online (via Microsoft teams). Regarding our manipulation during the single-exposure session, participants in the low expectancy violation (low-EV) condition will be provided with a brief intervention rational, including a strong emphasis on the virtual nature of the audience and the fact that certain expectancies cannot occur during these public speaking situations (and thus arguably minimizing the extent to which their expectancies can be violated). Additionally, they will be reminded between the exposure exercises that this is a safe environment where certain expectancies cannot occur. On the contrary, in the high expectancy violation (high-EV) condition, prior to exposure participants will only be provided with the intervention rationale and no emphasis will be given to the virtual nature of the environment either before exposure or during exposure. Public speaking anxiety and expectancy violation will be assessed at pre- post- and 1-week following exposure. |
