Virtual exposure to natural versus urban environments: a pilot study on impacts on self-compassion, self-protection, and self-criticism.

IF 3.9 2区综合性期刊 Q1 MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES

Scientific Reports Pub Date : 2025-08-15 DOI:10.1038/s41598-025-15009-5

Dagmar Szitás, Júlia Halamová, Viliam Pichler

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Abstract

This study explored the effects of a virtual forest environment compared to a virtual urban setting on key psychological factors, including self-compassion, self-protection, self-criticism, and stress. Designed as a pilot randomized controlled trial, the study included 28 adult participants who were randomly assigned to either the virtual forest or virtual city condition. Results from the Self-Compassion and Self-Criticism Scale indicated a significant increase in state self-compassion and a decrease in state self-criticism within the Forest Group. Notably, state self-criticism also decreased in the City Group. However, participants in the City Group experienced a significant increase in perceived stress and a decline in trait compassion, as measured by the Sussex-Oxford Compassion Scale. These findings suggest that virtual forest bathing may serve as a valuable therapeutic intervention, promoting self-compassion - recognized as a transdiagnostic factor for mental well-being - while reducing self-criticism, a known transdiagnostic factor of psychopathology.

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虚拟暴露于自然环境与城市环境：自我同情、自我保护和自我批评影响的初步研究。

本研究探讨了虚拟森林环境与虚拟城市环境对自我同情、自我保护、自我批评和压力等关键心理因素的影响。作为一项试点随机对照试验，该研究包括28名成年参与者，他们被随机分配到虚拟森林或虚拟城市环境中。自我同情和自我批评量表结果显示，森林组的状态自我同情显著增加，状态自我批评显著减少。值得注意的是，城市集团的国家自我批评也有所减少。然而，根据苏塞克斯-牛津同情心量表（Sussex-Oxford compassion Scale）的测量，“城市组”的参与者感受到的压力显著增加，同情心特质明显下降。这些研究结果表明，虚拟森林浴可以作为一种有价值的治疗干预，促进自我同情（被认为是精神健康的一个跨诊断因素），同时减少自我批评（一个被认为是精神病理学的跨诊断因素）。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Scientific Reports Natural Science Disciplines-

CiteScore

7.50

自引率

4.30%

发文量

19567

审稿时长

3.9 months

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