Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31890004›Full record

ArticleChild and adolescent psychiatry and mental health2019

Virtual reality exposure therapy for adolescents with fear of public speaking: a non-randomized feasibility and pilot study.

Smiti Kahlon, Philip Lindner, Tine Nordgreen

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07351409 (Immersive Virtual Reality as a Tool for Reducing Public Speaking Anxiety in Students Accessing the University Psychological Counseling Service), which is not on this map. Cited by 38 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
38citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
9.4field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07351409 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Immersive Virtual Reality as a Tool for Reducing Public Speaking Anxiety in Students Accessing the University Psychological Counseling Service: A Randomized Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of CalabriaRan2026 to 2026Enrolled72ConditionsAnxiety and Distress, Anxiety, Anxiety Disease, Public Speaking AnxietyArmsExposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) training, Counseling program
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

38 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 133 citations in OpenAlex.

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  4. Lack of research on efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents : A systematic review.Neuropsychiatrie : Klinik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Rehabilitation : Organ der Gesellschaft Osterreichischer Nervenarzte und Psychiater · 2021
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Smiti Kahlon1Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Haukelandsbakken 15, 5009 Bergen, Norway.ORCID 0000-0003-1788-9611
Philip Lindner1Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Haukelandsbakken 15, 5009 Bergen, Norway.
Tine Nordgreen1Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Haukelandsbakken 15, 5009 Bergen, Norway.
Haukeland University Hospital · NOStockholm University · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPublic Speaking Anxiety (PSA) is a common anxiety with onset in adolescence and early adulthood. With the advent of consumer virtual reality (VR) technology, VR-delivered exposure therapy is now a scalable and practical treatment option and has previously been shown to be efficacious with adults. In this non-randomized feasibility and pilot trial, we explore the effect of one-session (90 min) VR-delivered exposure therapy for adolescents (aged 13-16) with PSA.

methodsA total of 27 adolescents were recruited from Norwegian high schools and completed self-report measures of PSA twice prior to treatment, 1 week after treatment, and at 1 and 3 month follow-up. Heart rate was recorded during the treatment session. A low-cost head-mounted VR display with a custom-built VR stimuli material depicting a cultural and age appropriate classroom and audience were used when a series of speech (exposure exercises) were performed.

resultsLinear mixed effects model revealed a significant decrease in PSA symptoms (Cohen's

conclusionsThe results show that low-cost, consumer VR hardware can be used to deliver efficacious treatment for PSA in adolescents, in a feasible one-session format.

Indexed as

AdolescentsCognitive behavior therapyInhibitory learningPublic Speaking AnxietyVirtual realityVirtual reality exposure therapy

Identifiers

PMID31890004
PMCPMC6933883
OpenAlexW2997613705

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.