Emotional Processes in VR Exposure Treatment for Flight Phobia

Emotional Processes During a Randomized Controlled Trial of Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment for Flight Phobia

This study will assess emotional processes and their relation to treatment outcomes during Virtual reality exposure therapy for Flight Phobia. The researchers hypothesize treatment outcomes will be associated with positive changes in emotional constructs

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Fear of Flying
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: VRET - Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

Detailed Description

Emotional constructs and emotion regulation capacities play a central role in the severity of anxiety disorders and are directly related to treatment outcomes in different anxiety disorders. In this study we will examine the relation between positive and negative affect, emotion regulation, emotional instability, emotional differentiation, experiential avoidance and therapy outcomes in participants undergoing Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Flight Phobia. We assume that treatment outcomes will be positively related to changes in the regulation, management and experience of emotions.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 84
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Israel
  • Ramat Gan, Israel
    • Sheba Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• diagnosis of Flight phobia based on a structured interview
• possession of a smartphone with an active data plan

Exclusion Criteria:

• cardiovascular disease
• neurological disorders and history of epilepsy
• psychosis
• major depression
• suicidal behavior
• substance abuse.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET); st stage: Participants will receive information about the study, complete measures of fear of flying and emotional variables, and undergo a diagnostic interview for flight phobia and additional disorders.; nd stage: During the week prior to treatment, participants will complete a brief measure of emotion-related variables every evening at a fixed time (08:00 pm).; rd stage: Participants will receive therapy for fear of flying using a Virtual Reality (VR) simulator. Therapy sessions will be held once a week during 4 weeks. Participants will complete a brief measure of emotion-related variables at a random time during the 12 hours before the therapy session at a random time during the 12 hours after the therapy session. This will occur for every therapy session.; th stage: After treatment, participants will complete measures of fear of flying and emotional variables.	Behavioral: VRET - Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy; VRET will include 4 weekly 1-hour sessions over the course of 4 weeks. The treatment protocol is based on the Virtual Reality (VR) treatment manual guidelines (Rothbaum & Hodges, 1997,1999) and includes psychoeducation, anxiety management training, cognitive restructuring and exposure. The first therapy session focuses on creating an individually-tailored conceptualization and treatment plan. Following this process, participant and therapist conduct a short introductory VR flight exposure simulation to familiarize the participant with the VRET apparatus. The VRET apparatus is an advanced, large-scale VR system that allows maximal immersion within the virtual environment. The second, third and fourth sessions include psychoeducation, relaxation training, cognitive restructuring and individually-tailored VR exposures (the therapist can manipulate the turbulence level and other flight-related variables to fit participants' fears and current progress).
No Intervention: control; st stage: Participants will receive information about the study, complete measures of fear of flying and emotional variables, and undergo a diagnostic interview for flight phobia and additional disorders.; nd stage: During five weeks no therapy will be administered. Participants will fill questionnaires as follows: During the first week, participants will complete emotional measures every evening at a fixed time (08:00 pm); rd stage: During each of the following 4 weeks, participants will complete two emotional measures during a 24 hour period.; th stage: Participants will complete measures of fear of flying and emotional variables.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in FAS (Flight Anxiety Situations Questionnaire) scores	The Flight Anxiety Situations Questionnaire (Van Grewen, Spinhoven, Van-Dyck, & Dikstra, 1999) is a 32-item, 5-point Likert-scale (1= no anxiety to 5=overwhelming anxiety). The FAS evaluates flight-related anxiety in various situations and includes 3 factors: generalized, anticipatory and in-flight anxiety.	Two weeks prior to therapy and one week after last therapy session (therapy includes 4 weekly 1-hour sessions over the course of 4 weeks)
Changes in FAM (Flight Anxiety Modality questionnaire) scores	The Flight Anxiety Modality (FAM) questionnaire (Van Grewen et al. 1999) assesses somatic and cognitive aspects of Flight Phobia. It includes 18 items that are rated using a 5-point scale (1=not at all, 5=very intensely). The somatic factor assesses physiological symptoms and the cognitive factor assesses anxiety-provoking cognitions	Two weeks prior to therapy and one week after last therapy session (therapy includes 4 weekly 1-hour sessions over the course of 4 weeks).

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Idan Moshe Aderka
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Asaf Caspi, MD, Sheba Medical Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 24, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 24, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 26, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): December 30, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): December 5, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 28, 2023
• Last Verified: November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 6557-19-SMC

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No