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Validating a Virtual Environment for Sexual Assault Victims.

Claudie Loranger1,2, Stéphane Bouchard1,2

  • 1Centre Intégré de Santé, et de Services Sociaux de l'Outaouais, Gatineau, Canada.

Journal of Traumatic Stress
|April 20, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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This study validated a virtual reality environment for potential posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment in sexual assault survivors. The virtual sexual assault scenario was safe and induced emotions, suggesting its utility for PTSD therapy.

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Virtual Reality Technology
  • Trauma Studies

Background:

  • Virtual reality (VR) shows promise for treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  • VR applications for sexual assault trauma remain understudied.
  • The safety and relevance of VR exposure therapy for sexual assault scenarios require validation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To validate a virtual environment (VE) for progressive exposure to sexual assault scenarios.
  • To assess the safety and emotional impact of a VR sexual assault simulation.
  • To determine the feasibility of using this VE for PTSD treatment in sexual assault survivors.

Main Methods:

  • Thirty women (sexual assault victims and non-victims) participated.
  • Participants underwent two counter-balanced VR immersions: a control (no assault) and an experimental (assault) scenario.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Psychophysiological measures and questionnaires assessed anxiety and negative affect.

    • Main Results:

    • No adverse events were reported during or after VR immersions.
    • The experimental (sexual assault) scenario induced significantly more anxiety (large effect size) and negative affect (medium effect size) than the control scenario.
    • A significant time effect was observed in emotional responses.

    Conclusions:

    • The virtual sexual assault scenario is safe for participants.
    • The VE effectively elicits emotional responses relevant to trauma.
    • This validated VR environment warrants further investigation for treating PTSD in sexual assault survivors.