A Virtual Reality Brief Violence Intervention: Preventing Gun Violence Among Violently Injured Adults
- Conditions
- Violence
- Interventions
- Other: Treatment as Usual (TAU)Device: Brief Violence Intervention VR (BVI-VR)
- Registration Number
- NCT06239285
- Lead Sponsor
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Brief Summary
The overall aim of the proposed project is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of Brief Violence Intervention-Virtual Reality (BVI-VR) for reducing firearm-related violence, re-injury, and mortality among victims of violence. Outcome measures of firearm-related violence will come from multiple sources, including criminal background checks, hospital data, state-level data, semi-structured clinical assessments, and self-report assessments. In addition, the study aims to understand the impact of BVI-VR on psychosocial mediators resulting in a reduction of firearm-related violence. This will include self-report surveys, neurocognitive assessments, and clinical assessments. The economic efficiency of BVI-VR as a firearm-related violence intervention will also evaluated. To achieve these aims, a randomized control trial (RCT) in a large sample of violently injured adults (18+ years) from VCU Health will be conducted.
- Detailed Description
Brief Violence Intervention-Virtual Reality (BVI-VR) is being developed as a hospital-based brief gun violence intervention program founded on the principles of positive psychology, motivational goal setting (via gameplay), psychoeducation, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy. This proposal will develop five steps to create a 30-minute brief firearm-related violence intervention. The five steps address a range of psychosocial risk factors and enhance protective factors for violence, as well as psychoeducational programming specifically addressing the risk of firearm violence. All steps of the BVI-VR emphasize being in control of making positive choices, and how to locate and leverage opportunities within their communities to improve their well-being. BVI-VR empowers patients to be the driver of their well-being.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- RECRUITING
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 220
- violently injured patients from VCU's Level 1 Trauma Center
- 18 years or older
- English-speaking
- Under 18 years old
- Not a victim of Violent crime
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Treatment as Usual (TAU) Group Treatment as Usual (TAU) The treatment-as-usual (TAU) group will receive a community resource brochure (the same one that is provided at the end of BVI-VR). This brochure provides contact detail for services in the local area. Intervention Group Brief Violence Intervention VR (BVI-VR) Patients randomized into the BVI-VR group will answer questions about the session content and the rationale for the content. Their responses will provide an estimate of engagement providing a better understanding of treatment fidelity.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Gun Behaviors and Beliefs Scale 3 and 6 month post baseline Gun Behaviors and Beliefs Scale will be used to measure gun behaviors and beliefs that may be impacted by the intervention: Safety and Control, Social Perceptions, Emotional Risk, Common Beliefs. The subscales have demonstrated adequate to good internal consistency (α = .79-.96).
Firearm criminal conviction and arrests/ Criminal Background Checks prior to baseline assessment, from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and from 3-month follow-up to the 6-month follow-up. Criminal background checks will be conducted on participants to assess violent criminal arrests and gun-related crimes and police contacts. Criminal activity will be coded for the occurrence of nonviolent crime, violent crime, and firearm-related crime for three-time points: prior to baseline assessment, from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and from 3-month follow-up to the 6-month follow-up.
Firearm-related violence /The gun violence questionnaire Baseline self-report, 3- and 6-months post-randomization The gun violence questionnaire is a 9-item self-report that assesses firearm-related violence. Items were adapted from the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire physical aggression scale; for example, "Given enough provocation, I may fire my gun at another person". The measure has adequate internal consistency (α = .75) and good convergent and discriminant validity with other violence related measures
Non-convicted firearm-related violent crime/ Violent Crime Assessment 3 and 6 month post baseline Violent Crime Assessment is a semi-structured clinical assessment of convicted and non-convicted violent crime. The measure captures six categories of violent crimes that participants have and have not been arrested for; simple assault, aggravated assault, homicide, robbery, rape, and sexual assault. Information is collected on weapon use for each of the crimes (e.g., used a firearm during rape; fired a gun at a party and may have hit someone). The VCA provides a valuable index for firearm-related violence that is not captured in self-report measures or criminal background checks.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Firearm-related re-injury/ Self-report 3 and 6 month post baseline Violent injury data are collected from self-report surveys which capture the number of times a participant has been violently injured and what the patient was injured by (GSW).
Firearm-related mortality/ Hospital data; Virginia Department of Health; National Death Index 3 and 6 month post baseline Mortality rates will be collected from hospital records and the National Death Index database.
Firearm-related re-injury/ Hospital data: Virginia Department of Health 3 and 6 month post baseline Violent injury data are collected from VCU's hospital database.
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
Virginia Commonwealth University
🇺🇸Richmond, Virginia, United States