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Using immersive virtual reality to modify body image
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Elsevier, 2020.
-
Abstract
- We tested the efficacy of a training programme, delivered in virtual reality (VR), to modify the perceptual boundary between what participants classify as a fat versus a thin body. Three cohorts of 20 female volunteers with high body image concerns were recruited to two intervention groups and one control group. All participants completed a 4-day training programme in VR where they categorised a series of 3D models as either thin or fat; one intervention group was presented with the stimuli briefly, while the other group had no time limits imposed. Both intervention groups were given inflationary feedback to shift their categorisations of the stimulus models towards higher BMIs. Our results show that, compared to controls, both intervention groups shifted their categorical boundaries between Day 1 and follow-up on Day 14. Unlimited stimulus presentation times were associated with a larger training effect. Furthermore, both intervention groups experienced statistically significant reductions in their concerns about their own body shape, weight and eating habits. However, only in the group with longer stimulus presentation times were these reductions consistent with a clinically meaningful effect. These findings suggest that manipulating categorical perception in VR might provide a complementary addition to existing treatments for eating disorders.
- Subjects :
- Adult
050103 clinical psychology
medicine.medical_specialty
C850 Cognitive Psychology
Social Psychology
media_common.quotation_subject
Concept Formation
C840 Clinical Psychology
050109 social psychology
Virtual reality
Stimulus (physiology)
Young Adult
Physical medicine and rehabilitation
C841 Health Psychology
C810 Applied Psychology
Perception
medicine
Body Image
H674 Virtual Reality Engineering
Humans
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Categorical variable
General Psychology
Applied Psychology
media_common
Categorical perception
05 social sciences
Virtual Reality
Training effect
C830 Experimental Psychology
medicine.disease
C800 Psychology
C800
Psychotherapy
Eating disorders
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Thin body
Female
Psychology
Follow-Up Studies
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17401445
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....488ffb4fb861ca70eb979ecc8ff5c0f5