Treating Behavioral Addictions With Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality: Scoping Review (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to address addictive behaviors such as substance use disorders and gambling disorders has been growing. However, little has been done to explore the use of AR and VR in the treatment of other behavioral addictions. OBJECTIVE This scoping review aims to provide an overview of existing literature on AR and VR interventions for behavioral addictions. Specifically, the research questions are as follows: (1) What behavioral addictions or behavioral harms are being treated using AR and/or VR? (2) What AR and/or VR treatment interventions are being used to treat these behavioral addictions? METHODS This scoping review was conducted based on the framework first proposed by Arksey and O’Malley, later refined by Levac et al, and further outlined in the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Manual for Evidence. The literature was searched in the following databases: CINAHL, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, PubMed, and Web of Science, with Google advanced search complementing the search on Feb 22, 2023. Studies were screened by 2 independent reviewers based on inclusion criteria (all ages; any behavioral addiction, problematic behavior, or behavioral harm; AR or VR treatments and interventions) and exclusion criteria (pornography, sexual, and paraphilic disorders). Discrepancies were resolved by third and fourth reviewers. As this study is a scoping review, risk of bias was not assessed. Data were extracted and presented in tabular form as well as through conceptual analysis as a narrative summary. RESULTS A total of 9 studies were included in this review, 4 studies on video gaming and 5 studies on gambling behaviors. Participants’ age ranged from 12 to 65 years. Only the use of VR was identified. VR was used as a platform for cue exposure therapy and skills training in both gaming and gambling disorders. VR therapy was effective alone or in combination with other treatments and was comparable to traditional interventions. No adverse effect was reported in the studies. CONCLUSIONS VR is efficacious in treating behavioral addictions and can replace or be used in conjunction with traditional methods. Future directions include using VR with other psychotherapy or relapse prevention, applying VR to treat other addictions, and investigating harmful side effects of VR use. The frequency and duration of sessions can also be optimized. A limitation of this study is that there may be other documents beyond those published and searched in gray literature that could not be included in this review due to time and resource restrictions. The use of AR in the treatment of behavioral addictions did not yield any results in this review. However, VR application in behavioral addiction is promising, potentially efficacious, and capable of multiple applications. CLINICALTRIAL INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-10.4309/EGCN4808