Effects and acceptability of virtual reality to facilitate mindfulness practice in university students

Abstract

Mindfulness practices have proven to be effective for improving the mental health of many populations, including university students. However, these practices can be challenging for naive meditators. Virtual reality (VR) can create virtual scenarios that facilitate the practice of mindfulness. This study presents secondary data from a randomized controlled trial on the effects and acceptability of mindfulness-based VR environments conducted with a sample of university students. Specifically, it involved a single condition (n = 93) receiving an intervention that comprised six short mindfulness sessions in VR. Measurements were taken of participants’ state mindfulness and emotional state immediately before and after the implementation of each VR environment. Sense of presence was measured subsequent to each VR environment. Furthermore, participants were asked to rate their expectations for at baseline and satisfaction with the experience after the intervention. Participants significantly improved both state mindfulness and emotional states, and they reported a moderate-to-strong sense of presence in each of the VR environments. Moreover, participants reported high expectation and satisfaction scores for the intervention. This study shows the potential of VR in mindfulness, although there is a need for more research in this area and, in particular, more sophisticated trial designs.