{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:37:12Z","timestamp":1760146632914,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,23]],"date-time":"2024-11-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1732320000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003030","name":"Ag\u00e8ncia de Gesti\u00f3 d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2017SGR1693"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2017SGR1693"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003030","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004837","name":"Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovaci\u00f3n y Universidades","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["AEI\/10.13039\/501100011033"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AEI\/10.13039\/501100011033"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004837","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: A high number of patients who suffer the amputation of a lower limb will present psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder after surgery. This study embodies participants in a self-avatar with a right lower-limb amputation in a virtual reality environment. The aim was to determine if this experience increases anxiety levels compared to embodiment in a normal avatar. The study also examines whether body appreciation is related to anxiety levels. Methods: Subjects completed the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS) questionnaire before being immersed in the virtual environment, the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A) after each condition, and the Embodiment Questionnaire at the end of the experiment. Results: Univariate analysis showed that participants reported significantly higher levels of anxiety when exposed to the virtual avatar with an amputation compared to the full virtual body avatar. These results indicate that lower levels of body appreciation were associated with higher levels of anxiety across conditions, suggesting that participants with lower body appreciation experienced greater psychological maladjustment (measured by anxiety) in response to the virtual scenarios. Conclusions: The results suggest that the virtual avatar with a lower-limb amputation elicited significantly greater anxiety, and that body appreciation plays a key role in moderating this psychological response. Future research could focus on developing virtual exposure-based therapy for amputees using virtual reality to help reduce the anxiety experienced by patients during this process.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13237079","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,25]],"date-time":"2024-11-25T09:59:34Z","timestamp":1732528774000},"page":"7079","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Evaluating Psychological Effects of Amputation Through Virtual Reality Embodiment: A Study on Anxiety and Body Appreciation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6358-5531","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aina","family":"Manzano-Torra","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Bigfinite Inc., Carrer de C\u00f2rsega 301, 08008 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bruno","family":"Porras-Garcia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Utah, 295 Chipeta Way, Room 1N490, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7977-2051","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Guti\u00e9rrez-Maldonado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d\u2019Hebron 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"20","article-title":"Amputaci\u00f3n: M\u00e1s all\u00e1 de un cambio f\u00edsico, un cambio mental","volume":"62","author":"Tavera","year":"2014","journal-title":"Rev. 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