Provoked arrangement symptoms in obsessive-compulsive disorder using a virtual environment: A preliminary report

Comput Biol Med. 2012 Apr;42(4):422-7. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2011.12.010. Epub 2012 Jan 9.

Abstract

The current study aims to explore the effectiveness of virtual environment (VE) in producing anxiety variations to arrangement in order to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. Twenty-four participants completed and performed the virtual arrangement tasks three times with three-day intervals. The results showed that the levels of participants' anxiety decreased significantly from the first to the last day, but the levels of decrement were different depending on the type of tasks: the time limit task was most effective among the three tasks in evoking arrangement anxiety. Also, only the Symmetry, Ordering, and Arrangement Questionnaire (SOAQ) revealed significant positive correlations with anxieties. These VE profiles can serve as an adjunct for better diagnosis and treatment for people with arranging compulsion symptoms.

MeSH terms

  • Analysis of Variance
  • Anxiety / psychology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Implosive Therapy / methods*
  • Male
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / psychology
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / therapy*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • User-Computer Interface*
  • Young Adult