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Article

Engaging in Awkward Social Interactions in a Virtual Environment Designed for Exposure-Based Psychotherapy for People with Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: An International Multisite Study

by
Pamela Quintana
1,
Stéphane Bouchard
1,2,*,
Cristina Botella
3,4,
Geneviève Robillard
1,
Berenice Serrano
4,
Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortega
5,
Mathias Torp Ernst
6,
Beatriz Rey
5,
Maxine Berthiaume
2 and
Giulia Corno
1
1
Département de Psychoéducation et de Psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, QC J8X 3X7, Canada
2
Department of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1S 5L5, Canada
3
Universitat Jaume, 12006 Castellón de la Plana, Spain
4
CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, 28031 Madrid, Spain
5
Departamento de Ingeniería Gráfica, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain
6
Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12(13), 4525; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12134525
Submission received: 3 April 2023 / Revised: 11 June 2023 / Accepted: 4 July 2023 / Published: 6 July 2023
(This article belongs to the Section Mental Health)
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Abstract

The effectiveness of in virtuo exposure-based treatment of performance-only social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been demonstrated in several studies. However, few studies have validated virtual environments with participants suffering from generalized SAD. The goal of this study is to confirm the potential of a virtual environment in inducing anxiety in adults suffering from generalized SAD, compared to adults without SAD, when engaged in awkward social interactions. Differences between participants from two different countries were also explored. The sample consisted of 15 participants with SAD from Canada, 17 participants without SAD from Canada, 16 participants with SAD from Spain, and 21 participants without SAD from Spain. All participants were immersed in a control virtual environment and in an experimental virtual environment considered potentially anxiety-inducing for individuals with generalized SAD. As hypothesized, results showed that the experimental virtual environment induced a higher level of anxiety than the control environment among participants with SAD compared to those without SAD. The impact on anxiety of each socially threatening task performed during the experimental immersion was statistically significant. In terms of anxiety responses, no significant differences were found between participants from Canada and Spain. However, spatial presence and ecological validity were higher in Canadians than in Spaniards. Unwanted negative side effects induced by immersions in virtual reality were higher in the SAD group. This study highlights the importance for therapists to engage people with SAD in clinically relevant tasks while immersed in VR psychotherapeutic applications.
Keywords: virtual reality; social anxiety; generalized social anxiety; exposure; cultural differences virtual reality; social anxiety; generalized social anxiety; exposure; cultural differences

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MDPI and ACS Style

Quintana, P.; Bouchard, S.; Botella, C.; Robillard, G.; Serrano, B.; Rodriguez-Ortega, A.; Torp Ernst, M.; Rey, B.; Berthiaume, M.; Corno, G. Engaging in Awkward Social Interactions in a Virtual Environment Designed for Exposure-Based Psychotherapy for People with Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: An International Multisite Study. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 4525. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12134525

AMA Style

Quintana P, Bouchard S, Botella C, Robillard G, Serrano B, Rodriguez-Ortega A, Torp Ernst M, Rey B, Berthiaume M, Corno G. Engaging in Awkward Social Interactions in a Virtual Environment Designed for Exposure-Based Psychotherapy for People with Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: An International Multisite Study. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2023; 12(13):4525. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12134525

Chicago/Turabian Style

Quintana, Pamela, Stéphane Bouchard, Cristina Botella, Geneviève Robillard, Berenice Serrano, Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortega, Mathias Torp Ernst, Beatriz Rey, Maxine Berthiaume, and Giulia Corno. 2023. "Engaging in Awkward Social Interactions in a Virtual Environment Designed for Exposure-Based Psychotherapy for People with Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: An International Multisite Study" Journal of Clinical Medicine 12, no. 13: 4525. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12134525

APA Style

Quintana, P., Bouchard, S., Botella, C., Robillard, G., Serrano, B., Rodriguez-Ortega, A., Torp Ernst, M., Rey, B., Berthiaume, M., & Corno, G. (2023). Engaging in Awkward Social Interactions in a Virtual Environment Designed for Exposure-Based Psychotherapy for People with Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: An International Multisite Study. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(13), 4525. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12134525

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