Comparison of the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy on symptoms of acrophobia and anxiety sensitivity in adolescent girls: A randomized controlled trial

Acrophobia is a specific phobia characterized by a severe fear of heights. The purpose of the present study was to compare two therapies to ameliorate acrophobia and anxiety symptoms: virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. We applied a three-armed randomized controlled pre-post-test design with 45 female adolescent students. Students who met the DSM-5 criteria for acrophobia were randomly assigned to either VRET (N=15; M age=17.26; SD=1.32), EMDR (N=15; M age=17.15; SD=1.57) or a Waiting List (N=15; M age=17.50; SD=1.26). The study groups were tested in the first and last treatment sessions regarding symptoms of acrophobia (Acrophobia Questionnaire) and anxiety sensitivity (Anxiety Sensitivity Index). The data showed that both the application VRET and EMDR were associated with significantly reduced symptoms of acrophobia (d = 1.03 for VRET and d = 1.08 for EMDR) and anxiety sensitivity (d = 1.15 for VRET and d = 1.13 for EMDR) in comparison to the Waiting List. Negligible differences were found between both intervention groups after treatment (d = 0.13 for acrophobia symptoms and d = 0.03 for anxiety sensitivity). The results suggest that both VRET and EMDR are interventions that can significantly improve symptoms of acrophobia and anxiety sensitivity.

Journal

English

Parisa Azimisefat
Soran Rajabi 
Ad de Jongh
Philipp Kanske 
Fatemeh Jamshidi

Azimisefat, P., Rajabi, S., de Jongh, A., Kanske, P., & Jamshidi, F. (2022). Comparison of the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy on symptoms of acrophobia and anxiety sensitivity in adolescent girls: A randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.919148