Harnessing Immersive Virtual Reality: A Comprehensive Scoping Review of its Applications in Assessing, Understanding,...

Area of Science:

• Psychology and Psychiatry
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) presents a novel platform for innovation in eating disorder (ED) assessment and treatment.
• This review synthesizes recent advancements in IVR applications for complex psychological disorders like EDs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review of recent advancements and applications of IVR in eating disorders.
• To synthesize findings on IVR's role in assessment, understanding, and treatment of EDs.

Main Methods:

• Followed PRISMA protocols for systematic reviews.
• Included peer-reviewed studies from the past five years utilizing IVR for ED assessment or treatment.
• Conducted a comprehensive database search and methodical article screening.

Main Results:

• Twenty studies focused on Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder.
• IVR effectively assesses body image distortions and food-related emotional responses.
• IVR facilitates exposure therapy, modifies biases, and aids emotional regulation for ED treatment.

Conclusions:

• IVR is a transformative technology for EDs, benefiting diagnosis, therapy, and patient experience.
• IVR simulates predictive coding for embodied interventions, recalibrating body representations and affective models.
• Further research with consistent methodologies and clinical trials is needed to optimize IVR in clinical settings.