Der Einsatz von Virtueller Realität in der Psychotherapeutischen Praxis: Aktueller Forschungsstand, Chancen, Risiken und Herausforderungen

ZusammenfassungIn den letzten Jahren sind durch die Fortschritte der Digitalisierung neue psychotherapeutische Behandlungsmöglichkeiten und Unterstützungsangebote entstanden. Während sich bestimmte Innovationen wie die Videotherapie im letzten Jahr stark verbreitet haben, sind andere Formate wie z. B. Psychotherapieanwendungen in der Virtuellen Realität (VR) zwar sehr gut wissenschaftlich untersucht, aber dennoch kaum in die (tägliche) Praxis implementiert worden.Der folgende Artikel gibt einen Überblick über den aktuellen Forschungsstand zum Einsatz von VR im Kontext Psychotherapie. Hierbei wird auf zwei wichtige (kognitiv-verhaltenstherapeutische) Interventionsmethoden fokussiert, bei denen VR oft eingesetzt und untersucht wurde: (1) Behaviorale Exposition bei Angsterkrankungen und (2) Modifikation von Informationsverarbeitungsprozessen (Cognitive Bias Modification, CBM). Es werden aktuelle Studien zur Wirksamkeit sowie weitere aktuelle Ergebnisse zur Nutzung und dem Einsatz diskutiert. Weiterhin beschreibt der Artikel die grundsätzliche Nutzung der Virtuellen Realität und definiert wichtige Begriffe und Anwendungen.

Attentional bias modification for chocolate: Sham-n training as a new control group

Although attentional bias modification has been shown effective in several appetitive domains, results have been mixed. A major contributor seems to be the choice of control condition. The aim of the present study was to compare attentional bias modification for chocolate against a new control condition, sham-n (neutral or no-contingency) training. Using a modified dot probe protocol, participants (N = 192; 17–30 years) were randomly trained to attend to chocolate pictures, avoid chocolate pictures, or received sham-n training. In the attend and avoid conditions, stimulus pairs consisted of one chocolate and one non-chocolate picture, and probes replaced most often (90/10) chocolate or non-chocolate pictures, respectively. In the sham-n training condition, stimulus pairs consisted of two chocolate or two non-chocolate pictures, and probes replaced pictures within pairs with equal frequency (50/50). Attentional bias for chocolate increased following attend training, decreased following avoidance training, and did not change following sham-n training. The findings clearly demonstrate that both attend and avoidance training alter (in opposite direction) attentional bias for chocolate, whereas sham-n training is inert. This makes sham-n training particularly promising for use in clinical samples who tend to show strong initial biases.

Engagement with angry faces during attentional bias modification: Insights from the N2pc

<p>Healthy individuals show an attentional bias toward threat, and this bias is exaggerated in anxious individuals. Recent studies have shown that training anxious individuals to attend to neutral information can reduce their threat bias and anxiety levels. This training is called attentional bias modification (ABM). However, despite the large literature on ABM, it is still unclear how ABM achieves its effects. Two mechanisms – facilitated engagement with threat, and delayed disengagement from threat – are thought to be involved in the threat bias. In this thesis, I investigated the effects of ABM on engagement with angry faces. First, in Experiment 1 I developed an ABM task to train healthy individuals to attend to either angry or neutral faces. Participants completed a dot-probe task in which they saw two faces – one angry and one neutral – followed by a target that appeared more often in the location of either the angry or neutral face (depending on their respective training condition). Experiment 1 was successful at inducing a bias. Next, Experiment 2 used this task to investigate the effects of ABM on event-related potentials before, during, and after training. The N2pc component, which provides a measure of attentional engagement, was used to investigate changes in engagement with angry and neutral faces as a function of training. Consistent with previous studies, there was an overall N2pc for the angry face, indicating that participants were engaging their attention with the angry face. However, the N2pc was not affected by training, even though participants were moving their eyes in the training-congruent direction during training, indicating sensitivity to the training contingency. These results suggest that ABM does not affect attentional engagement with threat stimuli. Rather, it is likely that an improved ability to disengage attention from threat stimuli underlies ABM’s training effects.</p>

Engagement with angry faces during attentional bias modification: Insights from the N2pc

<p>Healthy individuals show an attentional bias toward threat, and this bias is exaggerated in anxious individuals. Recent studies have shown that training anxious individuals to attend to neutral information can reduce their threat bias and anxiety levels. This training is called attentional bias modification (ABM). However, despite the large literature on ABM, it is still unclear how ABM achieves its effects. Two mechanisms – facilitated engagement with threat, and delayed disengagement from threat – are thought to be involved in the threat bias. In this thesis, I investigated the effects of ABM on engagement with angry faces. First, in Experiment 1 I developed an ABM task to train healthy individuals to attend to either angry or neutral faces. Participants completed a dot-probe task in which they saw two faces – one angry and one neutral – followed by a target that appeared more often in the location of either the angry or neutral face (depending on their respective training condition). Experiment 1 was successful at inducing a bias. Next, Experiment 2 used this task to investigate the effects of ABM on event-related potentials before, during, and after training. The N2pc component, which provides a measure of attentional engagement, was used to investigate changes in engagement with angry and neutral faces as a function of training. Consistent with previous studies, there was an overall N2pc for the angry face, indicating that participants were engaging their attention with the angry face. However, the N2pc was not affected by training, even though participants were moving their eyes in the training-congruent direction during training, indicating sensitivity to the training contingency. These results suggest that ABM does not affect attentional engagement with threat stimuli. Rather, it is likely that an improved ability to disengage attention from threat stimuli underlies ABM’s training effects.</p>