The impact of virtual alcohol-related stimuli on craving in university students: an exploratory virtual reality intervention study. VR alcohol stimuli and university student craving.

Abstract

Aims: This exploratory study aimed to examine how virtual reality (VR) environments as an experimental tool can evoke and modulate alcohol craving among university students. Specifically, we investigated how exposure to a party scene with alcohol-related stimuli versus a relaxing environment influenced craving levels.

Methods: Thirty-seven university students were sequentially immersed in two VR scenarios-a party scene with alcohol cues and a nature-based relaxation scene. Craving was assessed at three time points using a VAS, and post-exposure using the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire (AUQ). A linear mixed-effects model tested the influence of time and individual predictors (age, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test [AUDIT-C], AUQ, Questionnaire on the Experience of Presence [QEP], sex) on craving dynamics.

Results: A linear mixed-effects model was used to examine craving trajectories across repeated measurement time points during the VR sessions. Craving did not significantly increase from baseline to midpoint (P = .06) and decreased significantly from midpoint to end (P = .002). Post-exposure AUQ scores as a state measure of craving were the only significant predictor of overall craving intensity (P < .001); age, sex, AUDIT-C, and sense of presence (QEP) had no significant effects.

Conclusions: VR environments can recreate real-life craving fluctuations, with increased urge in cue-rich settings and reduction in calming contexts. Our findings position VR as an experimental tool for studying craving dynamics; therapeutic efficacy was not assessed.