{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T04:46:08Z","timestamp":1789447568590,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,13]],"date-time":"2022-07-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1657670400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Dutch Research Council - Aspasia","award":["015.014.072"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["015.014.072"]}]},{"name":"NWO Creative Industrie-KIEM","award":["KI.18.039"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KI.18.039"]}]},{"name":"MIT R&D grant Province of North Holland, The Netherlands"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Fear of spiders, or Arachnophobia, is one of the most common specific phobias. The gold standard treatment, <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic> exposure therapy, is effective, but comes with significant limitations, including restricted availability, high costs, and high refusal rates. Novel technologies, such as augmented reality, may help to overcome these limitations and make Exposure Therapy more accessible by using mobile devices.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study will use a Randomized Controlled Trial design to investigate whether ZeroPhobia: Arachnophobia, a 6-week Augmented Reality Exposure Therapy smartphone <jats:italic>self-help<\/jats:italic> application, can effectively reduce spider phobia symptoms. Additionally, we will examine user-friendliness of the application and the effect of usage intensity and presence on treatment outcome.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study is registered in the Netherlands Trial Registry under NL70238.029.19 (Trial NL9221). Ethical approval was received on October 11, 2019. One-hundred-twelve participants (age 18\u201364, score \u2265 59) on the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire [FSQ] will be recruited from the general Dutch population and randomly assigned to a treatment or waitlist control group. The ZeroPhobia application can be accessed on users\u2019 smartphone. Baseline, post-test (i.e., at six weeks), 3- and 12-month follow-up assessments will be done, each including the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire as the main outcome measure as well as additional measures of anxiety, depression, user-friendliness, and presence as secondary measures and covariates.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The study was funded on September 25, 2018. Data collection started in September 2021 and the study is expected to run until September 2022.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Our study will improve our understanding of the efficacy and feasibility of providing Exposure Therapy for spider phobia using an Augmented Reality self-help application, with the intention of making mental health care more accessible.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0271175","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,13]],"date-time":"2022-07-13T17:36:17Z","timestamp":1657733777000},"page":"e0271175","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Automated app-based augmented reality cognitive behavioral therapy for spider phobia: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2636-879X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Marieke B. 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