Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly being used in the field of mindfulness, but the effectiveness of VR-based mindfulness interventions is unclear. This systematic review of empirical studies was performed to assess the effectiveness of VR-based mindfulness interventions on psychological and physiological outcomes in adults based on five databases. Databases were reviewed from the start of the records to February 21, 2020. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria and consisted of 236 participants. Studies were principally examined for psychological and physiological outcomes, such as anxiety, depression, and pain level. VR-based mindfulness interventions were generally associated with positive outcomes in relation to most measures. Nevertheless, there is an argument regarding the effectiveness of VR-based mindfulness interventions compared with traditional mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Overall, VR-based mindfulness interventions do not have the potential to exert a positive impact on individuals’ psychological and physiological outcomes. However, the absence of follow-up studies might not allow sufficient time to illustrate the psychological and physiological outcome changes or catch the potential long-term effectiveness of VR-based mindfulness interventions. Therefore, further long-term randomized controlled trials with standardized psychometric measures are required.
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This study was funded by Tsinghua SIGS Overseas Research Cooperation Foundation (Grant No. HW2020004), National Philosophy and Social Sciences Foundation of China (Grant No. 20AZD085) and the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2020A1515010949).
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Shiguang Ni contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Shuo Zhang, Mingxiu Chen and Shuang Lu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Shuo Zhang and Mingxiu Chen and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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What is the public health significance of this article?
The works in this systematic review suggest that VR-based mindfulness interventions have a positive impact on psychological and physiological health, but whether VR could actually enhance the effectiveness of mindfulness is unknown. Further long-term high-quality research is required.
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Zhang, S., Chen, M., Yang, N. et al. Effectiveness of VR based mindfulness on psychological and physiological health: A systematic review. Curr Psychol 42, 5033–5045 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01777-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01777-6