Efficacy of a Virtual Reality-Mediated Intervention on Emotion Recognition and Understanding in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 招募中
- 发起方
- 入组人数
- 30
- 试验地点
- 1
- 主要终点
- Test of Emotional Vocabulary (TLE)
研究概览
简要总结
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by difficulties in social interaction, communication, and in understanding one's own and others' mental and emotional states. In particular, skills related to the recognition, understanding, and regulation of emotions represent a significant area of vulnerability in children with high-functioning ASD, with important consequences for social and relational functioning.
The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention protocol designed to enhance socio-emotional understanding, with a specific focus on the recognition of basic and complex emotions, the expansion of emotional vocabulary, the association between situations, thoughts, and emotions, and the differentiation between thoughts and emotions. Furthermore, the study seeks to investigate the role of immersive technology (Oculus) as a potential facilitator of emotional learning compared to a traditional intervention approach. The sample will consist of children with a diagnosis of high-functioning ASD, aged between 7 and 10 years, with sentence-level language abilities, the capacity to narrate non-present events, and an intellectual quotient above 80 (assessed using the Griffiths Scales or the WISC-IV). Participants will be divided into two groups: an experimental group (OCULUS), which will receive the intervention mediated by the use of Oculus technology, and a control group which will undergo the same protocol without technological support.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Treatment
- 盲法
- Single (Participant)
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 7 Years 至 10 Years（Child）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 否
入选标准
- •Language in sentences
- •Ability to narrate events not present
- •QS/QI>80
排除标准
- •presence of other medical disorders
研究组 & 干预措施
Experimental group with virtual reality
The intervention protocol is designed to enhance socio-emotional skills in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. The intervention focuses on the recognition and understanding of basic and complex emotions, the expansion of emotional vocabulary, and the ability to associate situations, thoughts, and emotions, promoting the differentiation between mental and emotional states.
The treatment consists of weekly sessions over a total duration of four months and is structured around gradual activities based on visual stimuli and everyday social situations. These activities are carried out by the experimental group through the use of immersive virtual reality technology (Oculus), which allows children to interact with structured environments and scenarios designed to facilitate emotional and social learning.
干预措施: Oculus intervention (Other)
Control group
The control group follows the same intervention protocol aimed at enhancing socio-emotional skills in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. In this group as well, the intervention focuses on the recognition and understanding of basic and complex emotions, the expansion of emotional vocabulary, and the ability to associate situations, thoughts, and emotions, promoting the differentiation between mental and emotional states.
The treatment consists of weekly sessions over a total duration of four months and is structured around gradual activities based on visual stimuli and everyday social situations. However, unlike the experimental group, the activities are conducted in a traditional format, without the use of immersive technology (Oculus), with the therapist directly guiding the child through the activities and supporting their emotional and social understanding.
干预措施: Traditional intervention (Other)
结局指标
主要结局
Test of Emotional Vocabulary (TLE)
时间窗: The administration has a duration of 15 minutes.
The test contains an initial board, with which the child is introduced to the two protagonists of the subsequent stories, a boy and a girl; there is then a pretest board and 14 storyboards. For each of them, the examiner reads the short story to the child and then asks the child to choose, from two alternative emotional words, the one that best expresses what the protagonist of the story is feeling. In the first part, the child's understanding of emotional vocabulary referring to six basic emotions plus one complex emotion (joy, happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and shame) is assessed; in the second part, the emotional terms all refer to complex emotions (guilt, envy, jealousy, contempt, hate, longing and pride).
次要结局
未报告次要终点
研究者
Flavia Marino
Head of Unit
Istituto per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione Biomedica