Analysis of influential diagnostic features in classifying Cynophobia and astraphobia: study aided by virtual reality technology and AI

Abstract Traditional psychiatric assessments often depend on self-reports, which may be biased, while real-world evaluations pose safety and feasibility challenges. Specific phobias are underdiagnosed and often comorbid, with affected individuals at elevated risk for severe outcomes. This study aimed to integrate the DSM-5 diagnostic framework, Virtual Reality (VR), and Machine Learning (ML) to identify multimodal features most predictive of phobia severity. Ninety-four adults completed 100 inde