A novel virtual reality-based Theory of Mind intervention for outpatients with schizophrenia: a proof of concept pilot study.

A novel virtual reality-based Theory of Mind intervention for outpatients with schizophrenia: a proof of concept pilot study. Clin Psychol Psychother. 2020 Sep 25;: Authors: Vass E, Simon V, Fekete Z, Lencse L, Ecseri M, Kis B, Simon L Abstract Schizophrenia is a severe and highly disabling mental illness. While several pharmacological solutions are available to alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia, they do not seem to provide solution for accompanying social dysfunctions. To handle this unmet clinical need, many innovative interventions have been developed recently. Considering the promising results on this field and the development trend, characterized by the growing proportion of included interactive technology, our research team developed a novel virtual reality (VR) based targeted Theory of Mind (ToM) intervention (VR-ToMIS) for stable outpatients with schizophrenia. VR-ToMIS is a 9-session long structured and individualized method that uses cognitive and behavioral therapeutic techniques in an immersive VR environment. Our study was a randomized, controlled pilot study. Twenty-one patients have been recruited and randomly allocated to either VR-ToMIS or passive-VR condition. Patients assigned to passive VR condition could use the same VR software as the VR-ToMIS group, but without any interventions. Effects on psychiatric symptoms, neurocognitive- and social cognitive functions, pragmatic language skills and quality of life were...
Source: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Clin Psychol Psychother Source Type: research