Efficacy of a Transdiagnostic internet-based treatment for emotional disorders with a specific component to address positive affect: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Background Emotional disorders (ED) are among the most prevalent mental disorders. However, less than 50% of people suffering from ED receive the appropriate treatment. This situation has led to the development of new intervention proposals based on the transdiagnostic perspective, which tries to address the underlying processes common to ED. Most of these programs focus primarily on down-regulating negative affectivity, rather than increasing strengths and up-regulating positive affectivity. The data suggest the existence of disturbances in positive affectivity in these disorders, and so new interventions focusing on these problems are greatly needed. It is also essential to provide assist…
Clients’ Experiences With Internet-Based Psychological Treatments for Mental Disorders: Protocol for a Metasynthesis of Qualitative Studies
Background: Given the rise of internet-based treatments as an effective therapeutic tool for psychological disorders, it is necessary to carry out research that examines clients’ experiences with this type of intervention. The qualitative methodology has been found to be useful for analyzing clients’ perceptions in terms of facilitators and barriers, acceptability, and negative effects of internet-based treatments. However, a lack of integration of these primary studies has prevented their findings from being applied to new research and in clinical practice. Objective: The objective of this paper is to describe the protocol for a metasynthesis of qualitative studies exploring the experience…
Negative and Positive Affect Regulation in a Transdiagnostic Internet-Based Protocol for Emotional Disorders: Randomized Controlled Trial
Background Emotional disorders (EDs) are among the most prevalent mental disorders. Existing evidence-based psychological treatments are not sufficient to reduce the disease burden of mental disorders. It is therefore essential to implement innovative solutions to achieve a successful dissemination of psychological treatment protocols, and in this regard, the use of information and communication technologies such as the internet can be very useful. Furthermore, the literature suggests that not everyone with an ED receives the appropriate treatment. This situation has led to the development of new intervention proposals based on the transdiagnostic perspective, which attempts to address the…
Dropping out of a transdiagnostic online intervention: A qualitative analysis of client's experiences
Introduction An important concern in Internet-based treatments (IBTs) for emotional disorders is the high dropout rate from these protocols. Although dropout rates are usually reported in research studies, very few studies qualitatively explore the experiences of patients who drop out of IBTs. Examining the experiences of these clients may help to find ways to tackle this problem. Method A Consensual Qualitative Research study was applied in 10 intentionally-selected patients who dropped out of a transdiagnostic IBT. Results 22 categories were identified within 6 domains. Among the clients an undeniable pattern arose regarding the insufficient support due to the absence of a therapist and t…
Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and In Vivo Exposure Therapy: A Preliminary Comparison of Treatment Efficacy in Small Animal Phobia
This study aggregated data from three randomized control trials to explore the differential efficacy of three forms of exposure therapy, namely, in vivo (iVET), virtual reality (VRET), and augmented reality (ARET), in the treatment of small animal phobia. Additionally, baseline patient characteristics were used to detect subgroups of patients who showed a differential response to certain treatment modalities. Primary measures were distance covered, anxiety during the behavioral avoidance test (BAT), and overall fear of small animals. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to explore the overall treatment effect across the exposure modalities. A cluster analysis and an analysis of…
Integrating Virtual Realities and Psychotherapy: SWOT Analysis on VR and MR Based Treatments of Anxiety and Stress-related Disorders
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.The use of virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) technology in clinical psychology is growing. Efficacious VR-based treatments for a variety of disorders have been developed. However, the field of technology-assisted psychotherapy is constantly changing with the advancement in technology. Factors such as interdisciplinary collaboration, consumer familiarity and adoption of VR products, and progress in clinical science all need to be taken into consideration when integrating virtual technologies into psychotherapies. We aim to present an overview of current expert opinions on the use of virtual…
Behavioral Activation through Virtual Reality for Depression: A Single Case Experimental Design with Multiple Baselines
Behavioral activation (BA) is a structured psychotherapeutic approach for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), which aims at increasing the engagement in activities that might bring enjoyment and meaning to patients’ lives. Although a growing body of evidence supports the effectiveness of BA, enhancing the motivation and activity level of depressed patients is often challenging. In the present study, we explored the effectiveness of a brief BA treatment supported by virtual reality (VR) to facilitate the visualization and anticipation of four pleasurable activities that we tried to re-introduce in the patients’ daily routine. To do so, we conducted a single-case experimental de…