Virtual agent-mediated appraisal training: a single case series among Dutch firefighters

Abstract

Background: First responders are a prime example of professionals that are at a high risk of being exposed to traumatic experiences. Reappraisal as a coping strategy might help first responders to better cope with their emotional responses to traumatic events. Objective: This study investigated the effects of repeated sessions of a digital reappraisal training among seven firefighters. The training consisted of four sessions supported by a virtual agent, conducted at home or at work, over a two-week period in a single case series. Method: Sixteen data points were collected from each participant in the eight days pre- and post-training. Results: Significantly more themes were used at post-training than at pre-training, implying more flexibility and confirming the main hypothesis of the study. Negative side effects were not reported during or in the week after the training. Conclusions: More controlled studies into the short- and long-term effects of a training of this nature are needed. Furthermore, it provides a reference for developers in this field.

A decennial review of psychotraumatology: what did we learn and where are we going?

“…Researchers have begun to demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of delivering established treatments online (Simon et al, 2019;Wild et al, 2016) and via Skype (Ashwick, Turgoose, & Murphy, 2019). Several studies are also underway to explore the possible efficacy of new technologies such as internetbased virtual reality (Freedman, Dayan, Kimelman, Weissman, & Eitan, 2015), digital reappraisal training (Beer, Neerincx, Morina, & Brinkman, 2017) and novel game-based interventions (Asselbergs et al, 2018) as early interventions.…”

Enabling remote learning system for virtual personalized preferences during COVID-19 pandemic

“…Virtual environment (VE) training resembles a genuine situation and allows students to enter the VE to complete tasks [ 5 , 17 , 31 ]. VE also employs 2D (two-dimensional) and 3D wholly immersed interfaces [ 31 ].…”

“…VE also employs 2D (two-dimensional) and 3D wholly immersed interfaces [ 31 ]. VE training can be used as a stand-alone training strategy to cope with multi-user views, necessitating the reuse of previous similar ratings as well as current prior preferences/interests of intelligent semantic recommendations via data mining [ 5 , 6 , 39 ]. In [ 30 ], the author proposed OntoSIDES, which is at the heart of ontology-based learning systems in educational content.…”

“…For example, no semantic information extraction [ 10 , 18 , 23 ] suffers from vagueness and misconception of viewpoints of diverse-perspective problem investigation [ 2 , 16 ], both of which demotivate teachers and students to seek solutions and improve their knowledge. Furthermore, without virtual aid, ambiguity, incompleteness, and redundancy in course descriptions can enhance cooperation with relevant staff and performance concerns [ 5 , 31 ]. As a result, an easy and efficient system is required to decrease complexity and effort, as well as to provide suitable preferences to minimize rigidity in course content and skills [ 7 , 10 , 16 , 23 ].…”

“…Therefore, with the adaption and searching of new technologies and resources for online education, there is a need to guide and train students and teachers to enhance their skills and knowledge about online learning methods [ 7 , 14 , 15 ]. Students and teachers required personalized preferences about digital literacy [ 5 , 35 , 36 , 39 ]. This will help them in selecting the right technology and skill set, which are the prerequisite to use advanced technology.…”