Anxiety and threat magnification in subjective and physiological responses of fear of heights induced by virtual reality

Abstract Fear of heights (acrophobia) is a common condition, yet it is not well understood. Immersive virtual reality (VR) offers experimental rigour in safe laboratory settings. Using VR in exploring individual differences in clinically relevant phenotypes is a relatively new methodological approach. This study shows how the field can be advanced by the adoption of this new technology. We examined threat magnification in subjective levels of distress and electrodermal activity (EDA) during fear of heights induced by VR. Moreover, we compared VR and mindfulness techniques in reducing subjective distress. With a sample of 128 (63 males) young people (mean age = 22.85, SD = 3.97), results showed that subjective levels of distress increased and EDA decreased during induced fear of heights. Furthermore, the results indicate that threat magnification mediated the relationship between anxiety and (a) physiological arousal and (b) subjective distress. Finally, moderated regression analysis showed that VR and mindfulness techniques were successful in reducing subjective levels of distress in highly aroused individuals after fear induction. This study provides evidence for usefulness of avoidance based models of personality in explaining human defensive reactions.