Trial reportAddiction biology2026
Virtual Reality-Based Cue Exposure and Aversion Therapy for Alcohol Dependence: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Addiction biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Alcohol dependence (AD) is characterized by a high relapse rate. Virtual reality (VR) technology can provide immersive cue exposure therapy (VR-CET) and aversion therapy (VR-AT). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of VR-CET, VR-AT and their combination on craving, emotional and sleep states, attentional bias and relapse rate in patients with AD. In this single-centre randomized controlled trial, male inpatients with AD were randomly assigned to one of four groups: control, VR-CET, VR-AT or combined VR-CET + AT (target n = 25 per group; 80 completed, 20 per group). The interventions spanned 15 days with eight sessions (VR-CET + AT ~20 min/session; others ~10 min). Assessments were conducted before and after treatment using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Pennsylvania Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS), the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Eye-tracking and grasping indices in VR environments were used to assess attentional bias (e.g., alcohol-cue fixation time ratio). Relapse was evaluated by telephone at 4 and 12 weeks post-treatment. Statistical analyses used Shapiro-Wilk tests and ANOVA/Kruskal-Wallis tests with appropriate post hoc comparisons (α = 0.05). All groups showed significant pre- to post-treatment improvements in PACS, HAMD, HAMA, PSQI and VAS scores (all p < 0.001). Between-group comparisons at post-treatment revealed significant differences in alcohol-cue fixation time ratio (p < 0.05), with the VR-CET + AT group showing a lower fixation time ratio than the control group. VAS scores also differed among groups (p < 0.05), with the control group showing higher values than the VR-CET + AT group. Changes in alcohol-cue fixation time ratio from pre- to post-treatment were significantly greater in the VR-CET + AT group than in the control group. Relapse rates at 4 and 12 weeks (47/80 reached by telephone follow-up) did not significantly differ among groups (both p > 0.05). Combining VR-CET with VR-AT reduced craving (VAS) and attentional bias (alcohol-cue fixation time ratio) beyond standard care, whereas all groups improved on clinical scales. Larger and longer trials are warranted to further clarify relapse outcomes. Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2500110026. Registered 29 September 2025 (retrospectively registered).
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.