2023/10/25 by Sergio Frumento, Alessio Iannizzotto, Alberto Greco +3 · 1 voice
Psychology · #Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes #Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies #Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
paper · doi:10.1109/metroxraine58569.2023.10405564
openalex publication_date 2023/10/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT) is the gold-standard to measure phobic avoidance based on the minimum distance that a patient can keep from a phobic stimulus (e.g., a spider). Despite its wide use, this measure lacks standardization and is not easily customizable for individual patient's characteristics. Herein, we overcome these issues by means of a Virtual Reality-based BAT (VR-BAT). This tool allowed a reliable collection of behavioral as well as psychophysiological data. Preliminary results showed a notable difference with respect to the traditional BAT: the approach time and not the distance was the parameter correlated with phobic symptoms as tested in a group including highly-spiderfearful participants. The validation of the VR-BAT, integrated with the psychophysiological data, will allow a meaningful advancement in the assessment of phobic avoidance and in the evaluation of the therapies aimed at reducing it.