Old Fears Die Hard: Return of Public Speaking Fear in a Virtual Reality Procedure

E.A.M. van Dis; E. Landkroon; M.A. Hagenaars; F.H.S. van der Does; I.M. Engelhard

doi:10.1016/j.beth.2021.01.005

Old Fears Die Hard: Return of Public Speaking Fear in a Virtual Reality Procedure

E.A.M. van Dis^*, E. Landkroon, M.A. Hagenaars, F.H.S. van der Does, I.M. Engelhard

^*Corresponding author for this work

Utrecht University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Exposure-based therapy is an effective treatment for social anxiety, but some patients relapse. We used a novel virtual reality procedure to examine spontaneous recovery (i.e., a return of fear over time) and fear renewal (i.e., the return of fear after a context switch) in individuals with fear of public speaking. On Day 1, 32 participants received exposure training before a virtual audience. On Day 8, participants completed a spontaneous recovery phase, followed by a fear renewal test, in which they gave a presentation in front of a new (context switch) or the same audience (no context switch). After exposure, participants exhibited a lower heart rate, subjective distress, negative valence, and arousal. One week later, participants showed spontaneous recovery of heart rate, and the context switch group showed renewal of subjective distress, negative valence, and arousal. Future studies can use this procedure to test interventions aimed at improving long-term exposure effects in individuals with public speaking fear.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1188-1197
Number of pages	10
Journal	Behavior Therapy
Volume	52
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2021.01.005
Publication status	Published - Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Florentine H. S. van der Does is now at Leiden University Medical Center. This study is registered on the Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/udny4/ ). Declaration of interest: None. This study was supported by a Vici grant (453-15-005) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded to Iris M. Engelhard. We thank Nique van Outvorst, Wouter van Haperen, and Evy van Weelden for recruiting and testing participants.

Funding Information:
Florentine H. S. van der Does is now at Leiden University Medical Center. This study is registered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/udny4/). Declaration of interest: None. This study was supported by a Vici grant (453-15-005) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded to Iris M. Engelhard. We thank Nique van Outvorst, Wouter van Haperen, and Evy van Weelden for recruiting and testing participants.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies

Funding

Florentine H. S. van der Does is now at Leiden University Medical Center. This study is registered on the Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/udny4/ ). Declaration of interest: None. This study was supported by a Vici grant (453-15-005) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded to Iris M. Engelhard. We thank Nique van Outvorst, Wouter van Haperen, and Evy van Weelden for recruiting and testing participants. Florentine H. S. van der Does is now at Leiden University Medical Center. This study is registered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/udny4/). Declaration of interest: None. This study was supported by a Vici grant (453-15-005) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded to Iris M. Engelhard. We thank Nique van Outvorst, Wouter van Haperen, and Evy van Weelden for recruiting and testing participants.

Keywords

fear renewal
public speaking anxiety
return of fear
virtual reality exposure

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10.1016/j.beth.2021.01.005Licence: CC BY

1-s2.0-S0005789421000198-mainFinal published version, 501 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "Exposure-based therapy is an effective treatment for social anxiety, but some patients relapse. We used a novel virtual reality procedure to examine spontaneous recovery (i.e., a return of fear over time) and fear renewal (i.e., the return of fear after a context switch) in individuals with fear of public speaking. On Day 1, 32 participants received exposure training before a virtual audience. On Day 8, participants completed a spontaneous recovery phase, followed by a fear renewal test, in which they gave a presentation in front of a new (context switch) or the same audience (no context switch). After exposure, participants exhibited a lower heart rate, subjective distress, negative valence, and arousal. One week later, participants showed spontaneous recovery of heart rate, and the context switch group showed renewal of subjective distress, negative valence, and arousal. Future studies can use this procedure to test interventions aimed at improving long-term exposure effects in individuals with public speaking fear.",

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note = "Funding Information: Florentine H. S. van der Does is now at Leiden University Medical Center. This study is registered on the Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/udny4/ ). Declaration of interest: None. This study was supported by a Vici grant (453-15-005) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded to Iris M. Engelhard. We thank Nique van Outvorst, Wouter van Haperen, and Evy van Weelden for recruiting and testing participants. Funding Information: Florentine H. S. van der Does is now at Leiden University Medical Center. This study is registered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/udny4/). Declaration of interest: None. This study was supported by a Vici grant (453-15-005) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded to Iris M. Engelhard. We thank Nique van Outvorst, Wouter van Haperen, and Evy van Weelden for recruiting and testing participants. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies",

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Old Fears Die Hard: Return of Public Speaking Fear in a Virtual Reality Procedure

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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