Malighetti, C.; Schnitzer, C.K.; YorkWilliams, S.L.; Bernardelli, L.; Runfola, C.D.; Riva, G.; Safer, D.L. A Pilot Multisensory Approach for Emotional Eating: Pivoting from Virtual Reality to a 2-D Telemedicine Intervention during the COVID-19 Pandemic. J. Clin. Med.2023, 12, 7402.
Malighetti, C.; Schnitzer, C.K.; YorkWilliams, S.L.; Bernardelli, L.; Runfola, C.D.; Riva, G.; Safer, D.L. A Pilot Multisensory Approach for Emotional Eating: Pivoting from Virtual Reality to a 2-D Telemedicine Intervention during the COVID-19 Pandemic. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 7402.
Malighetti, C.; Schnitzer, C.K.; YorkWilliams, S.L.; Bernardelli, L.; Runfola, C.D.; Riva, G.; Safer, D.L. A Pilot Multisensory Approach for Emotional Eating: Pivoting from Virtual Reality to a 2-D Telemedicine Intervention during the COVID-19 Pandemic. J. Clin. Med.2023, 12, 7402.
Malighetti, C.; Schnitzer, C.K.; YorkWilliams, S.L.; Bernardelli, L.; Runfola, C.D.; Riva, G.; Safer, D.L. A Pilot Multisensory Approach for Emotional Eating: Pivoting from Virtual Reality to a 2-D Telemedicine Intervention during the COVID-19 Pandemic. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 7402.
Abstract
Emotional eating (EE) can be understood as a manifestation of difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) among individuals with eating disorders. Existing interventions do not always successfully treat EE. We developed a novel ER intervention based upon virtual reality to improve EE among adults with an eating disorder diagnosis. The design pivoted to non-immersive virtual delivery to increase access, particularly given heightened demand during COVID-19 for EE treatment. The study aimed to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary signals of effectiveness of this novel ER protocol that utilized evidence-based strategies such as mindfulness and imagery rescripting as well as innovative techniques such as virtual reality. Twenty-one adults with a history of an eating disorder diagnosis and self-reported EE were recruited from the Adult Eating Disorders Program within Stanford University to receive seven weekly one-hour virtual experiences (VE) focusing on ER. Participants chose between the novel VE-Emotion Regulation (VE-ER) intervention or continuing with their current treatment as usual. Before and after the seven sessions, participants completed an assessment by filling out online questionnaires. Overall, VE-ER treatment was feasible (100% completion), and participant and therapist acceptability of VE-ER treatment was fairly high. In terms of preliminary effectiveness, the results showed a significant reduction in the frequencies of disordered eating behaviors in both groups, but a greater improvement in EE in the VE-ER group. The VE-ER group also had a significant reduction in emotion dysregulation after the treatment.
Medicine and Pharmacology, Psychiatry and Mental Health
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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