ArticlePsychotherapy and psychosomatics2023
Virtual Reality Exposure to a Healthy Weight Body Is a Promising Adjunct Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa.
Article in Psychotherapy and psychosomatics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Reshaping restriction: virtual embodiment modulates eating biases in anorexia nervosa.Npj mental health research · 2026Article
- Associations of academic stress with anxiety and depressive symptoms: the mediating role of emotional eating.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- [How extended reality applications make a difference in psychotherapy].Der Nervenarzt · 2025Review
- Reflection of therapy progress in virtual reality for individuals affected by obesity: a pilot study.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2025Article
- Anorexia nervosa-an update.Der Nervenarzt · 2025Review
- [Anorexia nervosa-An update. German version].Der Nervenarzt · 2025Review
- Therapeutic immersion: a single-subject study on virtual reality multisensory experiences for mitigating body disturbance in anorexia nervosa.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2025Article
- Harnessing Immersive Virtual Reality: A Comprehensive Scoping Review of its Applications in Assessing, Understanding, and Treating Eating Disorders.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Article
- Metaverse in Mental Health: The Beginning of a Long History.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- Say farewell to bland regression reporting: Three forest plot variations for visualizing linear models.PloS one · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION/
objectiveTreatment results of anorexia nervosa (AN) are modest, with fear of weight gain being a strong predictor of treatment outcome and relapse. Here, we present a virtual reality (VR) setup for exposure to healthy weight and evaluate its potential as an adjunct treatment for AN.
methodsIn two studies, we investigate VR experience and clinical effects of VR exposure to higher weight in 20 women with high weight concern or shape concern and in 20 women with AN.
resultsIn study 1, 90% of participants (18/20) reported symptoms of high arousal but verbalized low to medium levels of fear. Study 2 demonstrated that VR exposure to healthy weight induced high arousal in patients with AN and yielded a trend that four sessions of exposure improved fear of weight gain. Explorative analyses revealed three clusters of individual reactions to exposure, which need further exploration.
conclusionsVR exposure is a well-accepted and powerful tool for evoking fear of weight gain in patients with AN. We observed a statistical trend that repeated virtual exposure to healthy weight improved fear of weight gain with large effect sizes. Further studies are needed to determine the mechanisms and differential effects.
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