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Virtual reality in the treatment of eating disorders
Author(s) -
Riva Giuseppe,
Malighetti Clelia,
Serino Silvia
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.2622
Subject(s) - virtual reality , bulimia nervosa , eating disorders , illusion , psychology , exposure therapy , attentional bias , narrative review , craving , cognition , binge eating disorder , cognitive psychology , psychotherapist , clinical psychology , psychiatry , anxiety , computer science , human–computer interaction , addiction
Over the last 25 years, virtual reality (VR) has offered innovative solutions for targeting different key symptoms of eating disorders: from craving to negative emotions, from attentional biases to body dissatisfaction. The present narrative review assesses the existing literature in these areas trying to identify their different levels of clinical evidence. Specifically, the review presents four clinical approaches based upon VR and their implications in the treatment of eating disorders: VR cue exposure, VR reference frame shifting, VR for correcting body distortions and attentional biases. In general, existing findings demonstrate the clinical value of VR. On one side, the present review suggests that two VR‐based techniques—VR exposure and reference frame shifting—have a significant research support and provide a possible advantage over traditional cognitive‐behavioural therapy (CBT) for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. On the other side, two emerging VR applications—multisensory body illusions and the use of VR for the modification of attentional biases—even if supported by preliminary data still need further research.