Clinical trial NCT06906770: Virtual Reality-based Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy for Specific Phobias
Official title: Virtual Reality-based Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy for Specific Phobias
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Specific Phobias
Keywords: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Virtual Reality
Lead sponsor: The University of Northampton
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: St Andrew's Healthcare
First posted: 2025-04-02
Enrollment: 17
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 17
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The goal of this clinical trial is to study the effectiveness of a virtual reality-based eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) application in treating phobia. It will also learn about the feasibility and safety of the application for independent use.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does the VR EMDR application reduce distress, improve positive cognitions, and decrease avoidance of specific phobias? Can the application help diminish phobia-related bodily sensations and encourage cognitive shifts toward positive beliefs and greater confidence in confronting previously avoided situations? Can the participants independently administer the treatment with minimum assistance?

Participants will:

Visit the site and take the VR EMDR phobia treatment every day for one week. Report their phobia and simulator sickness symptoms through self-report questionnaires or semi-structured interviews.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Have a specific phobia (not necessarily clinically significant)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of mental health disorders
* History of trauma associated with their phobia
* History of panic attacks associated with their phobia
* History of psychosis
* Current self-harm
* Current suicidal ideation
* Regular use of substances that might affect mental state
* Regular use of medications that might affect mental state
* Significant visual impairments
* Severe motion sickness

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Subjective Units of Distress (SUDs)
timeFrame: Recorded 4 times during each VR EMDR session (first being baseline, and the subsequent three were recorded after each eye movement set in desensitisation phrase) across the 5 consecutive intervention days.
measure: Change in Validity of Cognitions (VoC)
timeFrame: Recorded 4 times during each VR EMDR session (first being baseline, and the subsequent three were recorded after each eye movement set in installation phrase) across the 5 consecutive intervention days.
measure: Change in IAPT Phobia Scale Score
timeFrame: Baseline (Day 0, pre-intervention) and post-intervention (Day 5).
measure: The Severity Measure for Specific Phobia-Adult
timeFrame: Baseline (Day 0, pre-intervention) and post-intervention (Day 5).
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) Score Change
timeFrame: Day 1 and Day 5 post-intervention.
measure: Participant Adherence
timeFrame: Day 5 post-intervention.
measure: Participant Acceptability
timeFrame: Day 5 post-intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Northampton
country: United Kingdom
facility: University of Northampton
state: Northamptonshire
Study officials:
References: