ABSTRACT

Levels of student stress and psychopathology are greater than ever before and the need for mental health support is increasing. Because students themselves are often reluctant to seek out counselling and/or treatment [Eisenberg, D., E. Golberstein, and S. E. Gollust. 2007a. “Help-seeking and access to mental health care in a university student population.” Medical Care 45 (7): 594–601. doi:10.1097/MLR.0b013e31803bb4c1], preemptive interventions that proactively address personal well-being are necessary. Virtual Reality (VR) tools may provide a unique opportunity to promote student health through an affordable and immersive meditative platform. This project examines the effectiveness of VR meditation and immersive mindfulness through a longitudinal quasi-experimental research design. Biometric feedback, combined with Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS) and participant self-reports, informs the potential for VR interventions on college campuses. Results indicated that VR could be an effective intervention method; meditation sessions were perceived as effective and outcome measurements from the meditation sessions showed meaningful influence. Both CPSS and heart rate dropped due to meditation. However, the drops were not attributable to meditation methods. There was a hint that sound only or self-guided meditation was more effective than VR meditation method.

摘要

学生的压力和精神病理学水平比以往任何时候都高，对心理健康支持的需求也在增加。因为学生自己往往不愿意寻求咨询和/或治疗 [Eisenberg, D., E. Golberstein 和 SE Gollus。2007a。“在大学生群体中寻求帮助和获得心理保健。” 医疗保健45 (7): 594–601。doi:10.1097/MLR.0b013e31803bb4c1]，主动解决个人福祉的先发制人干预是必要的。虚拟现实 (VR) 工具可以提供一个独特的机会，通过一个负担得起的沉浸式冥想平台来促进学生的健康。该项目通过纵向准实验研究设计来检验 VR 冥想和沉浸式正念的有效性。生物特征反馈与 Cohen 的感知压力量表 (CPSS) 和参与者的自我报告相结合，为大学校园内 VR 干预的潜力提供了信息。结果表明，VR可能是一种有效的干预方法；冥想课程被认为是有效的，冥想课程的结果测量显示出有意义的影响。CPSS 和心率都因冥想而下降。然而，这些下降不是由于冥想方法造成的。有迹象表明，仅声音或自我引导的冥想比 VR 冥想方法更有效。