The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET)
to treat driving phobia using a multiple baseline across-subjects design. The sequence of events
included a pre-treatment assessment, a baseline phase, 8 weekly VRET sessions using a
standardized treatment protocol, a post-treatment assessment, and 1- and 3-month follow-up
assessments. A sample of seven treatment seeking adults with a primary diagnosis of specific
phobia (driving) was recruited. Five completed the treatment and follow-up phases. One
individual withdrew after the pre-treatment assessment, and the other, after the first treatment
session. It was hypothesized that VRET would reduce driving anxiety and avoidance symptoms
between pre- and post-treatment assessments using several outcome measures. Visual and
statistical analysis methods were used to assess treatment outcome. Three participants showed
clear improvement in driving anxiety and avoidance symptoms between pre- and post-treatment
assessments. There was a marginal improvement in these symptoms for one participant. The
remaining participant showed very little improvement, and some outcome measures revealed
slight deterioration in some of her symptoms. There was negligible change in actual driving
frequency in any participant. Some gains were lost at the 1- and 3-month follow-up assessments,
but symptoms remained far below pre-treatment results. Possibilities for future research and
practice implications are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/13614 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Wald, Jaye |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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