A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Ambiguity Tolerance in Individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Abstract

The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms in individuals with the disorder in comparison to virtual reality exposure therapy. A quasi-experimental method was implemented, followed by a pretest-posttest and a two-month follow-up. The population consisted of all individuals who were referred to Nik Mehr Counseling and Psychological Services in Tehran during 2020 and 2021. Among them, 45 were selected through convenience sampling method, randomly assigned to experimental and control groups and administered Madzli's Obsessive-Compulsive Questionnaire (1980). Subsequently, the subjects were subjected to cognitive-behavioral therapy for 12 sessions (2 forty-five-minute sessions per week for 6 weeks) and virtual reality exposure for 12 sessions (2 eight-minute sessions per week for 6 weeks). No intervention was administered to the control group. The data was analyzed in SPSS.23 software using a Bonferroni post hoc test and mixed analysis of variance. The results indicated that both therapies were efficacious (F=192; Eta=0.67; P<0001) in reducing obsession syndromes in individuals with the disorder. Additionally, the follow-up test demonstrated that there is no statistically significant difference in the efficacy of these two therapies on individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (P<0.05). According to the results, since there is no difference in the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy, both can be applied to reduce obsession syndromes amongst people with the disorder.

Keywords

• cognitive-behavioral therapy
• obsessive compulsive disorder
• tolerance of ambiguity
• virtual reality therapy