| Title: |
Speaking Face-to-Face with a Virtual Avatar to Reduce Anxiety in Students Who Stutter: Tool Development and Pilot Study Results |
| Authors: |
Delangle, Mathieu; Moïse-Richard, Anne; Leclercq, Anne-Lise; Labbé, David; Bouchard, Stéphane; Andrews, Sheldon; Ménard, Lucie |
| Contributors: |
Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes (LS2N); Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-IMT Atlantique (IMT Atlantique); Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-NANTES UNIVERSITÉ - École Centrale de Nantes (Nantes Univ - ECN); Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes université - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (Nantes univ - UFR ST); Nantes Université - pôle Sciences et technologie; Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes Université - pôle Sciences et technologie; Nantes Université (Nantes Univ); Université du Québec à Montréal = University of Québec in Montréal (UQAM); Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP); Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA); Marie Enfant Rehabilitation Centre, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal; Research Unit for a Life-Course Perspective on Health and Education, Université de Liège; Ecole de Technologie Supérieure Montréal (ETS); Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) |
| Source: |
ISSN: 0094-730X ; Journal of Fluency Disorders ; https://hal.science/hal-05473717 ; Journal of Fluency Disorders, 2026, 87, pp.106194. ⟨10.1016/j.jfludis.2026.106194⟩. |
| Publisher Information: |
CCSD; Elsevier |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
| Subject Terms: |
Exposure; School-age children; Anxiety; Stuttering; Virtual reality; [INFO.INFO-HC]Computer Science [cs]/Human-Computer Interaction [cs.HC] |
| Description: |
International audience ; Purpose: Speaking in class is challenging for students who stutter. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure in virtual reality (VR) emerges as a promising intervention for treating speaking anxiety in pediatric populations. This pilot study tested if real-time avatar-based VR can elicit anxiety responses while remaining acceptable to youth who stutter. Method: Twelve students who stutter (aged 9-18) were randomly assigned to a single training session conducted either (1) in VR with a realistic avatar controlled live by their SLP, or (2) in role-play with their SLP, before facing a real actor. We assessed system acceptability, anxiety levels and perceived self-efficacy. Results: The VR system was well accepted and elicited physiological arousal comparable to reallife interactions. Although participants reported experiencing less anxiety during VR, skin conductance level showed higher arousal; suggesting a divergence between the subjective report and physiological response. Finally, one training session (either in VR or with the SLP) did not produce gains in self-efficacy or decrease in anxiety related to the final real-actor conversation. Conclusion: This study demonstrates evidence that the potential use of immersive VR could represent an acceptable and viable complementary strategy for SLP treatment, that could control exposure parameters while evoking physiological responses similar to real-life contexts. The differences between subjective and physiological measures suggest that VR is inducing anxiety responses differently than it was perceived. Further research could investigate the use of VR as anxiety interventions for students who stutter and should be explored across multi-session studies to understand their therapeutic effect. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.1016/j.jfludis.2026.106194 |
| Availability: |
https://hal.science/hal-05473717; https://hal.science/hal-05473717v1/document; https://hal.science/hal-05473717v1/file/Delangle%20et%20al.,%20%282026%29.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2026.106194 |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ; info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.F38D48CA |
| Database: |
BASE |