Dynamic Interactive Social Cognition Training in Virtual Reality (DiSCoVR) for People With a Psychotic Disorder: Single-Group Feasibility and Acceptability Study

Nijman, Saskia Anne; Veling, Wim; Greaves‐Lord, Kirstin; Vos, Maarten; Zandee, Catharina E. R.; Rot, Marije aan het; Geraets, Chris; Pijnenborg, Gerdina H. M.

doi:10.2196/17808

Cited by 33 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Regarding treatment of psychosis, eight studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. Among them, an RCT of a 16 session VR-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program was found to significantly reduce momentary paranoid ideation and anxiety among psychiatric outpatients (34), a 16 session treatment program significantly improved emotion perception in patients with deficits in social cognition and functioning (40), and real-time VR assessment was found safe and effective for people who experience high levels paranoid ideation in social situations (33). Thus, there are methods available for implementation in FP settings which have demonstrated initial effects in patients with psychotic disorders.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The above also illustrates the importance of expanding the horizon to adjacent and considerably larger clinical fields, such as general psychiatry, when scouting for interventions which may be adapted to FP. As mentioned briefly above, several of the included studies have concerned VR-interventions used as part of more or less stand-alone treatments or assessments [e.g., (29,30,33,39,40)] others have been studied as adjuvant to other interventions, mainly other types of psychological therapy. In several studies it is indicated that patients have retained their ongoing pharmacological interventions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation in Forensic Psychiatry and Adjacent Clinical Fields: A Review of Current Assessment and Treatment Methods for Practitioners

Sygel

Wallinius

2021

Front. Psychiatry

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Background: Research has indicated that interactive, computerized case simulations using immersive virtual reality (VR) technology may be beneficial in the augmentation of conventional methods of assessment and treatment in forensic psychiatry, primarily through providing an engaging and safe environment in which the user can practice and learn skills and behaviors. However, there does not appear to be an overview of current developments available in the field, which may be an obstacle to clinicians considering the use of VR in their clinical practice.Objectives: Current, clinically relevant assessment and treatment methods applying immersive VR in forensic or adjacent clinical settings, were analyzed.Methods: This review surveyed the practical use of immersive VR in forensic psychiatry and relevant adjacent psychiatric and forensic fields from 2016 to 2020 and was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.Results: Out of the 1,105 journal articles screened, 14 met criteria for inclusion. Four articles described VR interventions directly addressing forensic psychiatric settings (treatment of general aggression and assessment of sexual offenders against children). The majority of the remaining articles were in the clinical domain of psychosis treatment. Several interventions were designed as part of comprehensive treatment programs, and others were intended as one-off assessments or paired with pre-existing psychological treatment. The degree to which the VR simulations were individualized to the user appeared to be largely dependent upon the extent of provider input. A variety of research methodologies were used in the included articles and the majority had limitations common to small-scale, non-randomized studies. None of the studies reported serious adverse effects.Discussion: There is a lack of large randomized controlled trials of current assessments or treatments using VR simulation in forensic psychiatry, let alone those with long-term follow-up, showing clear advantages of VR over standard practice. The evidence thus far is insufficient to recommend immediate and large-scale implementation of any one VR intervention, however, several have been shown to be feasible and acceptable to the participants and to provide insights and inspiration for future research and development.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation in Forensic Psychiatry and Adjacent Clinical Fields: A Review of Current Assessment and Treatment Methods for Practitioners

Sygel

Wallinius

2021

Front. Psychiatry

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“…The VR concept will be adapted to pioneer digital mental health solutions, including artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms [66][67][68][69], offering promise as a supplementary approach to boosting mental skills and improving the diagnosis and treatment of patients with mental health conditions. A pilot study found VR may benefit the therapeutic alliance [70], especially for people with a psychotic disorder with regard to emotion perception [71]. It was noted that there are limited studies in this field thus far.…”

Section: Digital Mental Health Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Screening and Tracking of Athletes and Digital Mental Health Solutions in a Hybrid Model of Care: Mini Review

Balcombe¹,

Leo²

2020

JMIR Form Res

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Background There is a persistent need for mental ill-health prevention and intervention among at-risk and vulnerable subpopulations. Major disruptions to life, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, present an opportunity for a better understanding of the experience of stressors and vulnerability. Faster and better ways of psychological screening and tracking are more generally required in response to the increased demand upon mental health care services. The argument that mental and physical health should be considered together as part of a biopsychosocial approach is garnering acceptance in elite athlete literature. However, the sporting population are unique in that there is an existing stigma of mental health, an underrecognition of mental ill-health, and engagement difficulties that have hindered research, prevention, and intervention efforts. Objective The aims of this paper are to summarize and evaluate the literature on athletes’ increased vulnerability to mental ill-health and digital mental health solutions as a complement to prevention and intervention, and to show relationships between athlete mental health problems and resilience as well as digital mental health screening and tracking, and faster and better treatment algorithms. Methods This mini review shapes literature in the fields of athlete mental health and digital mental health by summarizing and evaluating journal and review articles drawn from PubMed Central and the Directory of Open Access Journals. Results Consensus statements and systematic reviews indicated that elite athletes have comparable rates of mental ill-health prevalence to the general population. However, peculiar subgroups require disentangling. Innovative expansion of data collection and analytics is required to respond to engagement issues and advance research and treatment programs in the process. Digital platforms, machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence are useful for mental health screening and tracking in various subpopulations. It is necessary to determine appropriate conditions for algorithms for use in recommendations. Partnered with real-time automation and machine learning models, valid and reliable behavior sensing, digital mental health screening, and tracking tools have the potential to drive a consolidated, measurable, and balanced risk assessment and management strategy for the prevention and intervention of the sequelae of mental ill-health. Conclusions Athletes are an at-risk subpopulation for mental health problems. However, a subgroup of high-level athletes displayed a resilience that helped them to positively adjust after a period of overwhelming stress. Further consideration of stress and adjustments in brief screening tools is recommended to validate this finding. There is an unrealized potential for broadening the scope of mental health, especially symptom and disorder interpretation. Digital platforms for psychological screening and tracking have been widely used among general populations, but there is yet to be an eminent athlete version. Sports in combination with mental health education should address the barriers to help-seeking by increasing awareness, from mental ill-health to positive functioning. A hybrid model of care is recommended, combining traditional face-to-face approaches along with innovative and evaluated digital technologies, that may be used in prevention and early intervention strategies.

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“…VR-based assessment and training materials may offer a solution; virtual faces are dynamic, adaptable and enable interactive practice ( Grabowski et al, 2019 ; Nijman et al, 2019 ; Nijman et al, 2020 ). Research using implicit measures has shown that immersive VR can be used to elicit emotions ( Marín-Morales et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual reality facial emotion recognition in social environments: An eye-tracking study

Geraets

Tuente

Lestestuiver

et al. 2021

Internet Interventions

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Background Virtual reality (VR) enables the administration of realistic and dynamic stimuli within a social context for the assessment and training of emotion recognition. We tested a novel VR emotion recognition task by comparing emotion recognition across a VR, video and photo task, investigating covariates of recognition and exploring visual attention in VR. Methods Healthy individuals (n = 100) completed three emotion recognition tasks; a photo, video and VR task. During the VR task, emotions of virtual characters (avatars) in a VR street environment were rated, and eye-tracking was recorded in VR. Results Recognition accuracy in VR (overall 75%) was comparable to the photo and video task. However, there were some differences; disgust and happiness had lower accuracy rates in VR, and better accuracy was achieved for surprise and anger in VR compared to the video task. Participants spent more time identifying disgust, fear and sadness than surprise and happiness. In general, attention was directed longer to the eye and nose areas than the mouth. Discussion Immersive VR tasks can be used for training and assessment of emotion recognition. VR enables easily controllable avatars within environments relevant for daily life. Validated emotional expressions and tasks will be of relevance for clinical applications.

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Dynamic Interactive Social Cognition Training in Virtual Reality (DiSCoVR) for People With a Psychotic Disorder: Single-Group Feasibility and Acceptability Study

Cited by 33 publications

References 46 publications

Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation in Forensic Psychiatry and Adjacent Clinical Fields: A Review of Current Assessment and Treatment Methods for Practitioners

Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation in Forensic Psychiatry and Adjacent Clinical Fields: A Review of Current Assessment and Treatment Methods for Practitioners

Psychological Screening and Tracking of Athletes and Digital Mental Health Solutions in a Hybrid Model of Care: Mini Review

Virtual reality facial emotion recognition in social environments: An eye-tracking study

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