Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking
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Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw · Jun 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialDifferential effects of two virtual reality interventions: distraction versus pain control.
There is evidence that virtual reality (VR) pain distraction is effective at improving pain-related outcomes. However, more research is needed to investigate VR environments with other pain-related goals. The main aim of this study was to compare the differential effects of two VR environments on a set of pain-related and cognitive variables during a cold pressor experiment. ⋯ The VRD intervention significantly increased the pain threshold and pain tolerance in comparison with the control condition, but it did not affect any of the cognitive variables. Overall, the intervention designed to enhance control seems to have a greater effect on the cognitive variables assessed. Although these results need to be replicated in further studies, the findings suggest that the VRC intervention has considerable potential in terms of increasing self-efficacy and modifying the negative thoughts that commonly accompany pain problems.
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Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw · Jun 2014
Clinical use of virtual reality distraction system to reduce anxiety and pain in dental procedures.
Virtual reality (VR) has been used by clinicians to manage pain in clinical populations. This study examines the use of VR as a form of distraction for dental patients using both subjective and objective measures to determine how a VR system affects patients' reported anxiety level, pain level, and physiological factors. ⋯ Physiological data reported similar trends in decreased anxiety. Overall, the favorable subjective and objective responses suggest that VR distraction systems can reduce discomfort and pain for patients with mild to moderate fear and anxiety.
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Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw · Apr 2014
The quality of mental health information commonly searched for on the Internet.
Previous research has reviewed the quality of online information related to specific mental disorders. Yet, no comprehensive study has been conducted on the overall quality of mental health information searched for online. This study examined the first 20 search results of two popular search engines-Google and Bing-for 11 common mental health terms. ⋯ The presence of the HONCode badge and noncommercial status was found to have a small correlation with Web site quality, and Web sites displaying the HONCode badge and commercial sites had lower readability scores. Popular search engines appear to offer generally reliable results pointing to mostly good or better quality mental health Web sites. However, additional work is needed to make these sites more readable.
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Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw · Mar 2014
Virtual reality experiments linking social environment and psychosis: a pilot study.
Initial studies with healthy subjects and individuals with high risk for psychosis have suggested that virtual reality (VR) environments may be used to investigate social and psychological mechanisms of psychosis. One small study reported that VR can safely be used in individuals with current persecutory delusions. The present pilot study investigated the feasibility and potential negative side effects of exposure to different virtual social risk environments in patients with first episode psychosis and in healthy controls. ⋯ In FEP, but not in HC, galvanic skin response was significantly stronger in virtual environments with avatars of other ethnicity than in the own ethnicity condition. These results suggest that VR is an acceptable and sufficiently realistic method to use in patients with first episode psychosis. VR research may help to increase our understanding of the social and psychological mechanisms of psychosis and to develop new treatment applications.