Feasibility of a virtual reality program to treat children with fear of darkness with nonexpert therapists

Fear of darkness is highly prevalent and stable in children and often ends up becoming a specific situational phobia. The aim of this study is to analyze the feasibility of adapting and applying it through a Virtual Reality (VR) tool by nonexpert therapists. A pre-experimental study was carried...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mateu Servera, Belén Sáez, Joan Miquel Gelabert Mir
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Universidad Miguel Hernández 2020-05-01
Series:Revista de Psicología Clínica con Niños y Adolescentes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.revistapcna.com/sites/default/files/004.pdf
Description
Summary:Fear of darkness is highly prevalent and stable in children and often ends up becoming a specific situational phobia. The aim of this study is to analyze the feasibility of adapting and applying it through a Virtual Reality (VR) tool by nonexpert therapists. A pre-experimental study was carried out with six participants between the ages of 8 and 12 years old using pre- and posttreatment scales for assessing the fear of darkness. Statistically significant differences with large effects were found in all posttreatment measures: EMO (Roshenthal’s r = 0.64), WCDAN (r = 0.52), and Global item of current fear of darkness (r = 0.59). Using the Reliable Change Index (RCI) as a measure of clinically significant change, four participants improved satisfactorily, one acceptably, and the other did not improve. The results support the feasibility of using an adapted VR program to treat fear of darkness without being an expert therapist. However, more detailed experimental studies need to be carried out in order to analyze its efficacy.
ISSN:2340-8340