VR-Moodboost; an Innovative Virtual Reality Treatment for Adolescents With Depression

Brief summary (registry, in English)

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent and disabling mental health condition. A recent meta-analysis shows that across all forms of psychotherapy, only 43% of all depressive patients fully recover from MDD and relapse rates are high. Therefore, there is a strong need for innovative interventions with better treatment outcomes. Most traditional psychotherapies for depression focus on reducing negative affect. However, in patients suffering from depression, anhedonia, or loss of positive affect, is associated with poor prognosis and increased chance of suicide. Recent studies show promising results for novel psychotherapies with a focus on enhancing positive affect. Experimental studies indicate that non-verbal stimuli have a stronger impact on activation of positive affect than verbal stimuli, which makes Virtual reality (VR) a promising tool to enhance positive affect. For the current study the investigators developed an innovative VR treatment protocol to enhance positive affect and reduce depressive symptoms in patients with MDD. This study will include 10 adolescents aged 15 to 23 years old, who have a diagnosis of unipolar mild to severe depression. A trained psychologist will perform the VR-Moodboost intervention in twelve weekly sessions. The overall aim of this explorative proof-of-concept study is to provide first evidence that treatment with VR-Moodboost will lead to symptom improvement in adolescents with depression. The investigators hypothesize that VR-Moodboost will lead to an increase in positive affect, daily positive mood and a decrease in negative affect and daily negative mood in adolescents with mild to severe depression. Secondary, the investigators hypothesize that the VR-moodboost will lead to a decrease of depressive symptoms, an increase in daily activation, an increase in quality of life and an increase of self-efficacy for the participating patients. Moreover, the investigators hypothesize that VR-Moodboost leads to high patient acceptability and high usability for both patient and therapist.

What you commit to

• Study type: Interventional
• Participants enrolled: 12
• From 25 Jul 2022 to the primary completion date, 2 Mar 2026
• 1 site in 1 country
• Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Who the study is looking for

Age in the registry: 15 years to 23 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (1)

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