Effectiveness of virtual reality program on behavioral functions, emotional regulation and brain functions in the treatment of aerophobia

Fear of flying is one of the categories of phobias that can have a negative effect on people. This fear can be caused by many factors such as behavioral functions, brain and emotion regulation. Since air travel is safer than traveling with other vehicles, therefore, treating this disorder is very important.

This research was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of virtual reality program on behavioral functions, emotional regulation and brain functions by FNIRS in the treatment of aerophobia.

The current research design was a semi-experimental pre-test-post-test type with an experimental group (virtual reality training) and a control group (13 people in each group) with a 1-month follow-up. The statistical population of this research included all people with fear of flying who were invited to cooperate in 1402 and 1403 in the city of Tehran through a call on Instagram and Telegram social networks. The fear of flying questionnaire (Bournas et al., 1999), emotion regulation questionnaire (Gross and John, 2003) and functional near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) were used to collect data, as well as the 5-session protocol (One session per week and 60 minutes each session) virtual reality program was used for intervention. The data were analyzed with the methods of analysis of variance with repeated measurements and t-test. SPSS version 26 software was used for data analysis.

The findings indicated that the virtual reality program improved behavioral functions
(p< 0.01), but it had no significant effect on emotional regulation and brain activity indicators
(p> 0.01).

In general, the virtual reality program is very important in improving the fear of flying and can improve the behavioral functions of a person, and as a result, people can use the plane without fear of flying, and this method can be used to treat the fear of flying.