NCT05486676: VR-Moodboost

VR-Moodboost; an Innovative Virtual Reality Treatment for Adolescents With Depression

Completed NA Last updated 14 April 2026

What this trial tests

NA trial testing VR-Moodboost; a Virtual Reality intervention for depression to enhance positive affect and reduce depressive symptoms. in Major Depressive Disorder in 12 participants. Completed in 2 March 2026.

Timeline

25 July 2022

Primary endpoint
2 March 2026

2 March 2026

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Claudi Bockting
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	na
Design	single group
Masking	none
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	12
Start date	25 July 2022
Primary completion	2 March 2026
Estimated completion	2 March 2026
Sites	1 location across Netherlands

Drugs / interventions tested

• VR-Moodboost; a Virtual Reality intervention for depression to enhance positive affect and reduce depressive symptoms.

Conditions studied

• Major Depressive Disorder — all drugs for Major Depressive Disorder →

Sponsor

Claudi Bockting

Who can join

Adults 15 to 23, any sex, with Major Depressive Disorder. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent and disabling mental health condition. A recent meta-analysis shows that across all forms of psychotherapy, only 43% of all depressive patients fully recover from MDD and relapse rates are high. Therefore, there is a strong need for innovative interventions with better treatment outcomes. Most traditional psychotherapies for depression focus on reducing negative affect. However, in patients suffering from depression, anhedonia, or loss of positive affect, is associated with poor prognosis and increased chance of suicide. Recent studies show promising results for novel psychotherapies with a focus on enhancing positive affect. Experimental studies indicate that non-verbal stimuli have a stronger impact on activation of positive affect than verbal stimuli, which makes Virtual reality (VR) a promising tool to enhance positive affect. For the current study the investigators developed an innovative VR treatment protocol to enhance positive affect and reduce depressive symptoms in patients with MDD.

This study will include 10 adolescents aged 15 to 23 years old, who have a diagnosis of unipolar mild to severe depression. A trained psychologist will perform the VR-Moodboost intervention in twelve weekly sessions.

The overall aim of this explorative proof-of-concept study is to provide first evidence that treatment with VR-Moodboost will lead to symptom improvement in adolescents with depression. The investigators hypothesize that VR-Moodboost will lead to an increase in positive affect, daily positive mood and a decrease in negative affect and daily negative mood in adolescents with mild to severe depression. Secondary, the investigators hypothesize that the VR-moodboost will lead to a decrease of depressive symptoms, an increase in daily activation, an increase in quality of life and an increase of self-efficacy for the participating patients. Moreover, the investigators hypothesize that VR-Moodboost leads to high patient acceptability and high usability for both patient and therapist.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial. Completed trials usually publish results within 12-18 months.