ABSTRACT
Carrying out a diagnostic interview requires skills that need to be taught in a controlled environment. Virtual Reality (VR) environments are increasingly used in the training of professionals, as they offer the most realistic alternative while not requiring students to face situations for which they are yet unprepared. The results of the training of diagnostic skills can also be generalized to any other situation in which effective communication skills play a major role. Our aim with this study has been to develop a procedure of formative assessment in order to increment the effectiveness of virtual learning simulation systems and then to assess their efficacy.
Subject(s)
Bulimia Nervosa/diagnosis , Bulimia Nervosa/therapy , Computer-Assisted Instruction/trends , Education, Medical/methods , Education, Medical/trends , Simulation Training/methods , Virtual Reality , Forecasting , HumansABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to identify frequent situations and specific cues that produce the craving to binge in Spanish and Italian samples of patients with eating disorders (ED). There were two main aims: to assess transcultural differences in the contexts and cues that elicit food craving; and to develop valid, reliable VR environments for effective cue-exposure therapy (CET) for patients from both countries. Twenty-six Spanish and 75 Italian ED patients completed an ad hoc questionnaire to assess contexts and cues that trigger the craving to binge. No differences between groups were found. All patients reported experiencing higher levels of craving in the afternoon/early evening and in the late evening/night, between meals, when alone, and more frequently at the end of the week. Being in the dining room, the kitchen, the bedroom, the bakery and the supermarket were the specific situations that produced the highest levels of craving to binge. We used the questionnaire results to develop a virtual reality application for CET.
Subject(s)
Bulimia/psychology , Bulimia/therapy , Computer-Assisted Instruction/methods , Craving , Cross-Cultural Comparison , Patient Education as Topic/methods , Virtual Reality , Adult , Cultural Characteristics , Female , Humans , Italy , Male , Spain , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
This study shows preliminary data on the validity of a new virtual reality-based application for cue-exposure treatment of binge eating in bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Thirty-eight undergraduate students without eating disorders were exposed to several virtual environments with different foods in four different contexts (kitchen, dining-room, bedroom, and bakery/café). Participants were asked to indicate the level of food craving experienced in each situation. They also completed the Spanish version of the State and Trait Food Cravings Questionnaires. The results suggest that virtual reality is an effective technology for eliciting food craving, especially in the case of participants with high reactivity to food cues, and those who were hungry or experienced strong desire to eat during the experiment.
Subject(s)
Behavior Therapy/methods , Binge-Eating Disorder/psychology , Binge-Eating Disorder/therapy , Bulimia Nervosa/therapy , Feeding Behavior/psychology , Students/psychology , Virtual Reality , Adult , Cues , Female , Humans , Male , Reproducibility of Results , Universities , Young AdultABSTRACT
Cue exposure therapy has been reported to be an effective intervention for reducing binge eating behavior in patients with eating disorders and obesity. However, in vivo food exposure conducted in the therapist's office presents logistical problems and lacks ecological validity. This study proposes the use of virtual reality technology as an alternative to in vivo exposure, and assesses the ability of different virtual environments to elicit anxiety and craving for food in a non-clinical sample. The results show that exposure to virtual environments provokes changes in reported craving for food. High-calorie food cues are the ones that elicit the highest increases in craving.
