Virtual Reality Game for Aggressive Impulse ManagEment (VR-GAIME)

Recent research has linked chronic anger management problems to reactive increases in approach motivation to socially threating stimuli. This opens the door to a new generation of anger management interventions targeting the motivational component of anger. Laboratory findings indicate that training avoidance movements to angry faces may lower anger and aggression among healthy participants, especially those high in trait anger. The proposed study extends this training to a sample with clinically relevant aggression problems. To enrich the training, it has been made into a virtual reality game. The effectiveness of the Virtual Reality Game for Aggressive Impulse ManagEment (VR-GAIME) will be tested in a randomized controlled trial among forensic psychiatric outpatients with aggression regulation problems. Participants who receive general aggression treatment will play either the VR-GAIME or a placebo game. Anger will be assessed using self-report and aggressive impulses via self-report, a validated laboratory paradigm and clinician ratings. We predict that the combination of the VR-GAIME and general aggression treatment will be more successful in reducing aggressive behavior.

We predict that the combination of the VR-GAIME and general aggression treatment will be more successful in reducing aggressive behavior.

Screening regarding in- and exclusion criteria

Baseline measurement

Start treatment (total duration of 12 weeks)

Half-way measurement

End of treatment measurement

Agression regulation in combination with a virtual reality game to train the automatic tendency to approach social threat



VR-GAIME will be provided alongside the first 5 sessions of the general aggression treatment. Half of the participants will receive a placebo game in which avoidance behavior will not be trained