International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Design and Validation of a Virtual Reality Software Package and Investigating its Effect on the Severity of Obsessive and Depressive Symptoms of Women Suffering from Washing Compulsion

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Zeynab Mohammadi-Fesharaki 1
Marzieh-Sadat Sajadinezhad 1
Javad Rasti 2
1 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanistic Science, Arak University, Arak, Iran
2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Iran
10.30491/ijbs.2025.470553.2146
Abstract
Introduction: The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a virtual reality software package and to investigate its effect on the obsessive and depressive symptoms of women with washing compulsion.
Method: The present study consisted of two phases. The research method of the first phase was validation. At this stage, five psychology and virtual reality experts were selected purposefully, and the Cohen's kappa coefficient (κ) was analyzed in the software review. In the second phase, a quasi-experimental study on 22 women suffering from washing compulsion in Isfahan in 2022 which were selected by available sampling were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, of whom seven remained in each group. The instruments namely the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were completed in the pre-test, post-test and one month follow-up and their results were analyzed using SPSS 27 software using the multivariate covariance method.
Results: The content validity coefficient of the package was calculated as 0.9. The results of the second phase showed that the package was effective in reducing the obsessive symptoms of patients (P<0.05) and its effect continued over time (P<0.05); however, it was not useful in reducing the depression scores (P<0.05).
Conclusion: This method because of its ability to induce anxiety and its generalizability to real-world settings increases commitment to treatment and can be used to strengthen the impact of the exposure method for treatment of obsessive-compulsive patients.
Keywords
Washing Compulsion
Depression
Virtual Reality
Women
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International Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Volume 18, Issue 4
Winter 2025
Pages 207-213