Premium
The Application of Virtual Reality to the Treatment of PTSD Following the WTC Attack
Author(s) -
DIFEDE JOANN,
CUKOR JUDITH,
PATT IVY,
GIOSAN CEZAR,
HOFFMAN HUNTER
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1364.052
Subject(s) - virtual reality , exposure therapy , session (web analytics) , treatment and control groups , analysis of variance , virtual reality exposure therapy , clinical psychology , psychology , medicine , psychiatry , anxiety , computer science , human–computer interaction , world wide web
Recent research suggests that virtual reality (VR) enhanced exposure therapy may enhance the efficacy of treatment through increasing patient engagement in the exposure. This study evaluated the use of VR in the treatment of PTSD following the WTC attack of September 11, 2001. Individuals in a 14 session VR‐enhanced treatment (n=9) were compared to a waitlist (WL) control group (n=8). ANOVA showed a significant interaction of time by group (p<.01) with a large effect size of 1.53. The VR group showed significantly greater post‐treatment decline in CAPS scores compared to the WL. Our preliminary data suggests that VR is an effective tool for enhancing exposure therapy for both civilians and disaster workers who suffer from PTSD.