Enhancing mental health and resilience in war-affected youth: The impact of virtual reality-induced awe experiences

Abstract

This study investigated whether virtual reality (VR) applications designed to evoke awe could improve the psychological wellbeing of war-affected children and adolescents. We examined how different VR experiences (awe-inspiring, calming, or neutral) impacted situational anxiety, emotions, hope, and sense of meaning in youth evacuated from conflict zones. Two experiments were conducted with children and adolescents (ages 9–16) temporarily housed in central Israel following displacement: those evacuated from northern Israel due to rocket attacks (Experiment 1, N = 425) and those from southern communities severely impacted by the October 2023 conflict (Experiment 2, N = 385). Participants were randomly assigned to experience one of three 12-min VR applications. Using repeated-measures MANOVAs, awe-inspiring VR apps significantly increased positive emotions, hope, and meaning in life while reducing state anxiety and negative emotions compared to neutral apps (ps ≤ .01 in Experiment 1; ps ≤ .001 in Experiment 2). Calming VR apps also increased positive emotions relative to neutral apps (p = .01 in Experiment 1; p < .001 in Experiment 2). Structural equation modeling indicated that the benefits of the awe VR experiences were partially mediated by feelings of the 'small self' and connectedness with nature. The awe apps had a greater effect on reducing negative emotions and anxiety in participants with higher exposure to war trauma. These findings suggest that brief VR-based awe experiences can serve as an effective, accessible intervention tool for enhancing psychological resilience in war-affected youth, offering a practical approach to trauma support that can be readily implemented in educational and therapeutic settings, even in temporary displacement facilities.