Daily exposure to virtual nature reduces symptoms of anxiety in college students

被引:36
作者
Browning, Matthew H. E. M. [1 ,2 ]
Shin, Seunguk [3 ]
Drong, Gabrielle [4 ]
McAnirlin, Olivia [1 ,2 ]
Gagnon, Ryan J. [2 ]
Ranganathan, Shyam [5 ]
Sindelar, Kailan [6 ]
Hoptman, David [7 ]
Bratman, Gregory N. [8 ]
Yuan, Shuai [1 ,2 ]
Prabhu, Vishnunarayan Girishan [1 ,9 ]
Heller, Wendy [10 ]
机构
[1] Clemson Univ, Virtual Real & Nat Lab, Clemson, SC 29634 USA
[2] Clemson Univ, Dept Pk Recreat & Tourism Management, Clemson, SC 29634 USA
[3] Univ Illinois, Dept Nat Resources & Environm Sci, Urbana, IL USA
[4] Univ Illinois, Coll Educ, Champaign, IL USA
[5] Clemson Univ, Sch Math & Stat Sci, Clemson, SC USA
[6] Univ North Florida, Jacksonville, FL USA
[7] INVIROVR Inc, Santa Fe, NM USA
[8] Univ Washington, Sch Environm & Forest Sci, Seattle, WA USA
[9] Univ N Carolina, Syst Engn & Engn Management, Charlotte, NC USA
[10] Univ Illinois, Dept Psychol, Champaign, IL USA
关键词
TRIPARTITE MODEL; TRANSDIAGNOSTIC DIMENSIONS; DEPRESSION; REALITY; PRESCRIPTION; ENGAGEMENT; RUMINATION; SICKNESS; PEOPLE; HEALTH;
D O I
10.1038/s41598-023-28070-9
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
Exposure to natural environments offers an array of mental health benefits. Virtual reality provides simulated experiences of being in nature when outdoor access is limited. Previous studies on virtual nature have focused mainly on single "doses" of virtual nature. The effects of repeated exposure remain poorly understood. Motivated by this gap, we studied the influence of a daily virtual nature intervention on symptoms of anxiety, depression, and an underlying cause of poor mental health: rumination. Forty college students (58% non-Hispanic White, median age = 19) were recruited from two U.S. universities and randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Over several weeks, anxious arousal (panic) and anxious apprehension (worry) decreased with virtual nature exposure. Participants identifying as women, past VR users, experienced with the outdoors, and engaged with the beauty in nature benefited particularly strongly from virtual nature. Virtual nature did not help symptoms of anhedonic depression or rumination. Further research is necessary to distinguish when and for whom virtual nature interventions impact mental health outcomes.
引用
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页数:12
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