Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT05576259

oVRcome - Self Guided Virtual Reality for Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety is characterised by excessive fear of being negatively judged, embarrassed or humiliated during social interactions and is common with a lifetime prevalence of 12.1%. Cognitive behavioural therapy is the first line of treatment, but people may not seek treatment due to a number of factors including the discomfort experienced in seeking help, inconvenience, and the experience of psychotherapy itself. With Virtual Reality (VR), users can have increased control in how gradually they expose themselves to social situations. In studies of VR in people with specific phobias, 76% of people prefer VR exposure to in vivo exposure. There is emerging evidence for the use of VR in social phobia.

oVRcome, is a self-help VRET for social anxiety symptoms and specific phobias, that is delivered through a smartphone application (app) in combination with a low cost headset that holds the smartphone and uses 360º video.

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of the oVRcome social anxiety program for social anxiety symptoms. We hypothesize that oVRcome will reduce social anxiety symptom severity over a 6-week treatment period compared to waiting-list control

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Social Anxiety

Age range

18 year–64 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Otago

Christchurch, 8001, New Zealand

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • are between 18-64 years old
  • have moderate (or higher) social anxiety disorder symptoms on Liebowitz social anxiety scale (>60)
  • have access to a smart phone and internet
  • willing to participate in the research study and providing informed consent

Exclusion criteria

  • present with symptoms of severe depression or suicidality respectively as measured with the PHQ-9; total score > 19, =3 on suicidality item
  • have insufficient knowledge of the English language
  • are under current treatment for social phobia or psychotropic medication (unless on stable dosage for the previous 3 months and no changes planned during the study period).

Treatment and study plan

oVRcome phone app with headset

Other

The intervention oVRcome is self-help VRET for social anxiety, that is delivered through a smartphone application (app) in combination with headset that holds the smartphone and uses 360º video. oVRcome includes 6 modules of psychoeducation, relaxation, mindfulness, cognitive techniques, exposure through VR, and a relapse prevention module which are aimed to be completed weekly.

Primary outcomes

  1. Liebowitz social anxiety scale -self report (LSAS)

    Time frame: Week 6

    Assesses the way that social phobia plays a role in participants life across a variety of situations. Higher scores indicate more severe symptoms. Min 0 Max 144

Secondary outcomes

  1. Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale

    Time frame: week 0,6,12,18

    Scores range from 1 through to 60 with higher scores indicating higher fear of negative evaluation

  2. Patient's Global Impressions of Improvement (PGI-I) scale

    Time frame: Week 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,18

    Assesses patients' overall perception of their condition in a 1-item questionnaires that ask an individual patient to rate the perceived change in his/her condition in response to therapy at endpoint. Min 1 (very much improved) Max 7 (very much worse).

  3. Patient Health Questionnaire - PHQ 9

    Time frame: Week 0,6,12,18

    PHQ-9 scores range from 0 through to 27, with higher scores indicating more severe depressive symptoms

  4. Modified Gatineau Presence Questionnaire First item

    Time frame: Week 4,5,6

    Assess degree of realism using virtual reality. Scores range from 1 (very realistic) through to 100 (not very realistic)

  5. Fast Motion Sickness Scale (FMS)

    Time frame: Week 4,5,6

    Measures motion sickness with virtual reality. Scores range from zero (no sickness at all) to 20 (frank sickness).

  6. Changes in behaviour that may have been previously avoided because of the phobia

    Time frame: Week 6,12,18

    Free text response

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Otago

Other

Collaborators

  • oVRcome

Registry information

Official study title

oVRcome - Self Guided Virtual Reality for Social Anxiety Disorder. A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Important dates

Study start
2022
Primary completion
2023
Study completion
2023
First posted
Oct 12, 2022
Registry last updated
Apr 9, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.