Virtual reality exposure therapy for reducing social anxiety in stuttering: A randomized controlled pilot trial

Abstract

This is the first randomized controlled trial of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) developed specifically for reducing social anxiety associated with stuttering. People who stutter with heightened social anxiety were recruited from online adverts and randomly allocated to receive VRET (n = 13) or be put on a waitlist (n = 12). Treatment was delivered remotely using a smartphone-based VR headset. It consisted of three weekly sessions, each comprising both performative and interactive exposure exercises, and was guided by a virtual therapist. Multilevel model analyses revealed that VRET was no more effective than waitlist at reducing social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, negative thoughts associated with stuttering, and stuttering characteristics. VRET did lead to a significant reduction of social anxiety between post-treatment and one-month follow-up, though no other changes were observed. The findings suggest that the current VRET protocol is not effective at reducing social anxiety amongst PWS but may support longer-term learning. Nevertheless, this project provides a solid basis for further design improvements and for future research to explore appropriate techniques for widening access to social anxiety treatments in stuttering.