Using Virtual Reality to Improve Emotion Understanding in Children With Autism
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Oculus intervention, Traditional intervention.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Autism, Autism Disorder. Basic parameters: 7 years — 10 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Italy
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Efficacy of a Virtual Reality-Mediated Intervention on Emotion Recognition and Understanding in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Overview
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.
Interventions
- Other Oculus intervention
Phase 1: Basic Emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise) * Step 1-3: Sequential recognition and identification of emotions on faces, using sets of 4 or 6 images. * Step 4-6: Association of thoughts, emotions, and situations in everyday scenarios. All activities are conducted through immersive virtual reality (Oculus), allowing children to interact with structured environments and scenarios that facilitate socio-emotional learning. Phase 2: Complex Emotions (guilt, shame, p - Other Traditional intervention
Phase 1: Basic Emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise) * Step 1-3: Sequential recognition and identification of emotions on faces, using sets of 4 or 6 images. * Step 4-6: Association of thoughts, emotions, and situations in everyday scenarios. All activities are conducted in a traditional format, without the use of immersive technology, with the therapist guiding the child directly through the exercises to support socio-emotional learning. Phase 2: Complex Emotions (gui
Primary outcome measures
- Test of Emotional Vocabulary (TLE) [Time frame: The administration has a duration of 15 minutes.]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Language in sentences
- Ability to narrate events not present
- QS/QI>80
Exclusion criteria
- presence of other medical disorders
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Single blind
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
Italy · 1 center
- Istituto per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione Biomedica — Messina
Publications
- Papoutsi, C., Drigas, A., & Skianis, C. (2021). Virtual and augmented reality for developing emotional intelligence skills. Int. J. Recent Contrib. Eng. Sci. IT (IJES), 9(3), 35-53.
- Frolli A, Savarese G, Di Carmine F, Bosco A, Saviano E, Rega A, Carotenuto M, Ricci MC. Children on the Autism Spectrum and the Use of Virtual Reality for Supporting Social Skills. Children (Basel). 2022 Feb 1;9(2):181. doi: 10.3390/children9020181. PMID 35204903
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.) https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07367256 · CNR-IRIB-PRO-2026-002