Virtual reality exposure therapy for fear of spiders: an open trial and feasibility study of a new treatment for arachnophobia

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow diagram of the progress through the phases of a single group repeated measurements trial.

Table 1. Means and standard deviation for participants’ ratings on the spider phobia Questionnaire (SPQ, n = 12), fear questionnaire total (FQ, n = 12) and behavioral approach test (BAT, n = 10) at baseline and post-treatment.

	Baseline	Post-treatment	Baseline vs. post-treatment
scale	M (SD)	M (SD)	p	dav
SPQ	18.30 (4.03)	13.80 (2.97)	.002	1.01
FQ	6.50 (.90)	5.25 (1.28)	.009	0.99
BAT	6.40 (2.59)	10.00 (1.25)	.003	1.39

Paired samples repeat measure t-test results and effect sizes for baseline versus post-treatment.

SPQ = Spider Phobia Questionnaire, FQ = Fear Questionnaire, BAT = Behavioral Approach Test, d_av = Cohen’s d_av.

Table 2. Participant reliable change index (RCI) for the dependent measures at post treatment compared to base-line measures.

	SPQ	FQ	BAT
1	1.66	0	1.07
2	0	0
3	0.83	0.92	0
4	1.38	0
5	1.66	0.92	0.72
6	0	1.84	2.15*
7	0	0	1.07
8	0.28	1.84	1.07
9	1.11	0	0.72
10	1.94	2.76*	0.72
11	3.32*	3.68*	3.58*
12	1.66	1.84	1.79

A reliable change less than –1.96 indicates deterioration and greater than 1.96 indicates improvement. SPQ = spider phobia Questionnaire, FQ = fear Questionnaire, BAT = behavioral approach test. *=reliable change evident.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.