Testing a virtual reality intervention for pain control.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed (1) to assess the validity of a virtual reality (VR) intervention designed specifically to gain control over pain, (2) to test whether the association between the virtual environment and pain can be potentiated using a differential conditioning procedure, and (3) to examine the effects of this VR intervention in a cold pressor experiment. METHODS: The VR intervention was based on a figure representing pain. This figure could be manipulated until reaching a no-pain state. Participants were 64 undergraduate students, who were asked to evaluate this environment in terms of arousal and valence. A differential conditioning procedure was then applied, in which the pain figure was paired with electric shock and the no-pain figure was presented without shock. Afterwards, participants performed a cold pressor task. RESULTS: In the initial testing, the pain figure was evaluated as more arousing and more unpleasant than the no-pain figure. After the conditioning procedure, these ratings significantly increased; with the pain figure being rated as more anxiety eliciting and a better predictor of shocks than the no-pain figure. During cold pressor, the interaction with the conditioned VR figure led to significant increases in pain threshold and tolerance, as well as a significantly greater underestimation of time, but it did not affect pain intensity. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide preliminary support for the use of our VR intervention to gain control over pain.

Emotional eating and food intake after sadness and joy.

Do people with a high score on a scale for eating in response to negative emotions also show high food intake in response to positive emotions? We studied these effects in 60 female students that were preselected on the basis of extreme high or low scores on an emotional eating questionnaire. Using a between subject design we experimentally tested the difference in food intake following a mood induction designed to induce joy or sadness (the joy vs. sad mood condition). The high and low emotional eaters did not differ in their food intake, but emotional eating significantly moderated the relationship between mood condition and food intake. Whereas low emotional eaters ate similar amounts after the sad and after the joy mood condition, high emotional eaters ate significantly more after the sad mood condition than after the joy mood condition. A further finding was that a similar moderator effect for emotional eating was found for intake of sweet food but not for intake of salty food. These findings would suggest that eating in response to negative and to positive emotions refer to two different constructs.

Associations between facial emotion recognition, cognition and alexithymia in patients with schizophrenia: comparison of photographic and virtual reality presentations.

Emotion recognition is known to be impaired in schizophrenia patients. Although cognitive deficits and symptomatology have been associated with this impairment there are other patient characteristics, such as alexithymia, which have not been widely explored. Emotion recognition is normally assessed by means of photographs, although they do not reproduce the dynamism of human expressions. Our group has designed and validated a virtual reality (VR) task to assess and subsequently train schizophrenia patients. The present study uses this VR task to evaluate the impaired recognition of facial affect in patients with schizophrenia and to examine its association with cognitive deficit and the patients' inability to express feelings. Thirty clinically stabilized outpatients with a well-established diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were assessed in neuropsychological, symptomatic and affective domains. They then performed the facial emotion recognition task. Statistical analyses revealed no significant differences between the two presentation conditions (photographs and VR) in terms of overall errors made. However, anger and fear were easier to recognize in VR than in photographs. Moreover, strong correlations were found between psychopathology and the errors made.

Improving social behaviour in schizophrenia patients using an integrated virtual reality programme: a case study.

Social skills training programmes are among the treatments of choice in schizophrenia. Virtual reality (VR) can improve the results obtained with traditional social skills programmes by helping to generalize the acquired responses to patients' daily lives. We present the results of a case study involving the application of an integrated VR programme for social skills training. A 30-year-old woman with a well-established diagnosis of schizophrenia was enrolled in the study. She completed four baseline sessions, 16 treatment sessions and four follow-up sessions three months after the end of the treatment. Using a multiple baseline across-behaviours design, three target behaviours were analysed: facial emotion recognition, social anxiety and conversation time. Symptoms and social function variables were also assessed. The results showed a positive change in the three target behaviours and improvements in interpersonal communication, assertiveness and negative symptoms. The VR programme proved useful for training the patient's social behaviour and, consequently, for improving her performance.

Calidad de vida en pacientes con esquizofrenia de ascendencia étnica aymara en el norte de Chile / Quality of life of schizophrenia patients of aymaran ethnic background in the north of Chile

Objetivo:Se describe la calidad de vida en pacientes con esquizofrenia con ascendencia aymara, analizando la presencia de diferencias con pacientes de ascendencia no originaria. Método:Participaron 45 pacientes atendidos por los Servicios de Salud Mental de Arica, Chile. Se utilizó la Escala de Síntomas Positivos y Negativos (PANNSS), y el Cuestionario Sevilla de Calidad de Vida (CSVV). Resultados:Los pacientes del estudio mostraron niveles moderados de calidad de vida, con una fuerte relación con el síndrome negativo y la psicopatología general del trastorno, no hallando diferencias significativas en las dimensiones de la calidad de vida en función de la ascendencia étnica. Los resultados encontrados evidencian que la integración de los pacientes a los servicios de salud comunitarios se asocia positivamente a la valoración que hacen respecto a su calidad de vida, siendo fundamental considerar la integración de los cuidadores en los tratamientos administrados(AU)

Objective:To describe the quality of life of patients of Aymaran descent with schizophrenia and analyse the differences with patients of non-Aymaran descent. Method:The study included 45 patients who attended the Mental Health Services in Arica, Chile. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Seville Quality of Life Questionnaire (SQoLQ) were used. Results:The patients of the study showed moderate quality of life levels, with a strong association with the negative syndrome and the general psychopathology of the disorder. No significant differences were found in the quality of life dimensions as regards ethnic background. Conclusions:The results found demonstrate that the integration of patients in the Community Health Services is positively associated as regards their quality of life. The integration of the caregivers is considered essential in the treatments administered(AU)

Pathological gambling and age: differences in personality, psychopathology, and response to treatment variables.

The aim of this study was to ascertain the possible differences in personality, psychopathology, and response to treatment in pathological gambling according to age. The sample, comprising 67 participants, was divided into three groups: 32.6% with ages ranging between 17 and 26 years, 31.3% between 27 and 43 years, and 35.8% over 44 years of age. The participants were administered the following tests, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI; Hathaway, S.R. & McKinley, J.C. (1943, 1961). Cuestionario de personalidad MMPI. Madrid Seccion de Estudios de TEA ed. 1970, 1975], sensation-seeking questionnaire [SSS; Zuckerman, M. (1979). Sensation seeking; beyond the optimal level of arousal. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates], and the Symptom Check List Revised [SCL-90-R; Derogatis, L.R. (1977). Symptom check list-90 revised. Administration scoring and procedures manual. Baltimore]. All underwent a group treatment programme that was carried out in the Pathological Gambling Unit at Ciutat Sanitaria i Universitaria de Bellvitge (CSUB), Teaching hospital, Barcelona, Spain. The findings show differences depending on age in the participants' personality and in psychopathology and in their response to treatment.