INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE Treatment 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. METHODS In 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. RESULTS In 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. CONCLUSIONS VR 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.

中文翻译：

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虚拟现实暴露于健康体重的身体是治疗神经性厌食症的一种很有前途的辅助治疗方法。

引言/目的 神经性厌食症 (AN) 的治疗效果一般，担心体重增加是治疗结果和复发的有力预测因素。在这里，我们提出了一种虚拟现实 (VR) 设置，用于暴露健康体重，并评估其作为 AN 辅助治疗的潜力。方法 在两项研究中，我们调查了 20 名高度关注体重或体型的女性以及 20 名患有 AN 的女性的 VR 体验以及 VR 暴露于较高体重的临床效果。结果 在研究 1 中，90% 的参与者 (18/20) 报告了高度兴奋的症状，但口头上表达了低至中度的恐惧。研究 2 表明，健康体重的 VR 暴露会引起 AN 患者的高度兴奋，并产生这样的趋势：四次暴露会改善对体重增加的恐惧。探索性分析揭示了三组个体对暴露的反应，需要进一步探索。结论 VR 暴露是一种被广泛接受的强大工具，可引起 AN 患者对体重增加的恐惧。我们观察到一个统计趋势，即重复虚拟暴露于健康体重可以改善对体重增加的恐惧，且效果较大。需要进一步研究以确定其机制和差异效应。