ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2020
The Role of Sense of Voice Presence and Anxiety Reduction in AVATAR Therapy.
Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of change in dysfunctional beliefs and self-esteem in avatar-based cognitive therapy for symptoms of social anxiety disorder: a randomized parallel trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- "It Felt Good to Be Able to Say That Out Loud"-Therapeutic Alliance and Processes in AVATAR Therapy for People Who Hear Distressing Voices: Peer-Led Qualitative Study.JMIR mental health · 2026Trial
- Digital AVATAR therapy for distressing voices in psychosis: the phase 2/3 AVATAR2 trial.Nature medicine · 2024Trial
- Participants' experiences of AVATAR therapy for distressing voices: a thematic qualitative evaluation.BMC psychiatry · 2022Trial
- Relating behaviours and therapeutic actions during AVATAR therapy dialogue: An observational study.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2021Trial
- Process Evaluation of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Psychosis: Scoping Review With Framework Synthesis.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Is emotion regulation a mechanism of change in virtual reality-assisted therapy for auditory hallucinations? Secondary analyses of the CHALLENGE randomized clinical trial.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Audio Visual Assisted Therapy Aid for Refractory Auditory Hallucinations (AVATAR) therapy for voice hearers: systematic review and meta-analysis.BJPsych open · 2026Review
- Relational Therapies for People Who Hear Voices: Operationalisation and Current Status of an Emergent Group of Psychological Therapies.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Review
- Article
- Immersive Virtual Reality-Assisted Therapy for Distressing Voices in Psychosis: Qualitative Study of Participants' and Therapists' Experiences in the Challenge Trial.JMIR serious games · 2025Article
- Using Virtual Reality Social Environments to Promote Outcomes' Generalization of AVATAR Therapy for Distressing Voices: A Case Study.Journal of clinical psychology · 2025Article
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- The Relationship between Sense of Presence, Emotional Response, and Clinical Outcomes in Virtual Reality-Based Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia: An Exploratory Correlational Study.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Article
- The Use of Virtual Reality Technology in the Treatment of Psychopathological Disorders.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Adapting AVATAR Therapy: Using Available Digital Technology for People Living with Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Indian journal of psychological medicine · 2022Article
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- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
AVATAR therapy offers a unique therapeutic context that uses virtual reality technology to create a virtual embodiment of the voice-hearing experience, enabling the person to visualize their persecutory voice and engage in real-time "face-to-face" dialogue. The present study explores, for the first time, the contribution of sense of voice presence, together with session-by-session reduction of anxiety and paranoid attributions about the avatar, to changes in primary outcomes following AVATAR therapy. Data from 39 participants, who completed AVATAR therapy and attended a 12-week follow-up assessment, were analysed. Mid- to high-levels of sense of voice presence were reported across the therapy sessions, along with significant reductions of anxiety levels and paranoid attributions about the avatar. The interaction of sense of voice presence and reduction of anxiety was associated with two of the significant therapy outcomes: PSYRATS total and frequency of voices. The findings suggest that improvements in voice severity and frequency at post AVATAR therapy may be influenced by the combination of feeling less anxious in the context of a realistic simulation of the voice, while voice-related distress may involve additional cognitive and relational processes.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.