Immersive virtual reality or computerised mindfulness meditation for improving mood? Preliminary efficacy from a pilot randomised trial

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Costina-Ruxandra Poetar¹  Alexandra Voinescu²  Nathan Bradley² 

[1] Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania;The International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania;Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom;

关键词: computer;    mindfulness meditation;    mood;    simulator sickness;    virtual reality;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1157469

 received in 2023-02-02, accepted in 2023-10-11,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionMindfulness interventions are effective in improving mood, reducing stress, and increasing quality of life. New developments in technology bring important channels to deliver mindfulness interventions that can increase accessibility, such as the Internet, computerised interventions, mobile apps and recently, virtual reality (VR). The aim of the present study is to enhance our current understanding of the use of VR in mindfulness, namely we examined in a pilot randomised trial the efficacy of an immersive VR-based mindfulness approach compared to an active control (computerised-based mindfulness meditation) on improving mood. A secondary objective was to examine whether VR use resulted in simulator sickness which could affect user engagement.MethodsForty-seven (Mage = 29.22 years) healthy participants were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group.ResultsA mixed 2X3 ANOVA showed a significant Time effect. Namely, negative emotions were reduced in both groups, with non-significant differences between groups. For positive emotions, on the other hand, our results showed no significant impact. Simulator sickness in VR was not present, according to t-test, making VR a safe delivery method.DiscussionFuture research should investigate VR dosage and combine VR with other interventions (e.g., blended with face-to-face mindfulness interventions, with Internet-delivered interventions).

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Poetar, Bradley and Voinescu.