Virtual Reality Experiences as Tools to Support Mental Health in Parents of Children With Autism

In this study participants will be randomly assigned to an experimental or control groups according to the main treatment. Participants in the experimental group will undergo 8 VR sessions by observing a scenario accompanied by a voice audio guide, whereas participants in the control group will complete the 8 VR sessions by observing scenery accompanied only by the sounds of nature. All groups will be treated one time a week for 1h sessions for 8 consecutive weeks.

Participant recruitment: The families of children with ASD will be recruited at the clinical facilities of the Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation of the National Research Council of Italy (IRIB-CNR) in Messina as part of an ongoing research program.

Allocation of the sample: Eligible participants who will meet the inclusion criteria will receive written information about the procedure and be asked to sign the consent form indicating their willingness to participate in the study. Only qualified individuals who provided informed consent will be randomly assigned to the experimental or control group in a 1:1 manner. Participants will then receive information regarding the allocation result. The randomization will be performed using a computer-generated, site-stratified, randomization schedule. Randomization will be stratified according to age, sex and educational level. For each stratum, random numbers will be assigned to the participants and put into envelopes; it will be determined randomly whether the even or odd number would enter the experimental group. Participants will be assigned to the study according to the numbers they received on opening the envelopes.

Withdrawn criteria: Participants will be considered withdrawn if any of the following occurs: (1) participant chooses to withdraw from the study at any time, (2) intolerable adverse effects, (3) major violation of the study protocol, and (4) other circumstances that would endanger the health of the subject if he/she would to continue his/her participation in the trial.

Immersive virtual environments: Virtual reality experience will be made by using 8 relaxing virtual scenarios (e.g., naturalistic environments) created by BECOME s.r.l. (https://www.discoverbecome.com). The virtual experiences will be offered through the Oculus Quest 2 (marketed since November 2021 as Meta Quest 2)

Sample size: Power size calculation will be performed with GPower 3.1. Considering an anticipated effect size (f) of 1, an alpha set at 0.05, 2 groups, and a 0.95 statistical power, the total sample size required is N = 46.

Inclusion criteria

• being parent of a child diagnosed with autism
• absence of pharmacotherapy that could interfere with the measured data (psychoactive drugs, anti-hypertensive, anti-depressants)
• no significant visual impairment

Exclusion criteria

• history of psychiatric diagnosis
• presence of medical disorders (heart disease or blood pressure, neurological disorders, epilepsy)