Virtual reality (VR) exposure is used in clinical psychology to treat anxiety disorders. It is also used to enhance resilience in soldiers by allowing them to confront virtual combat environments to help fortify them against the negative consequences of trauma exposure. Most VR studies have focused on military and emergency medical staff; however, thus far, none have investigated VR in ambulance workers (AWs), who are confronted with traumatic situations daily. The current study aimed to assess the impact of a single VR exposure session on self-perceived competence and stress level in a sample of AWs. Participants (N = 40) were randomly assigned to either a VR immersion (i.e., experimental group, n = 20) or an audio immersion (i.e., control group, n = 20) of a shooting attack situation. We hypothesized that compared to controls, VR participants would report decreased anxiety, as measured using visual analog scales, as well as an increased sense of competence. The results showed a significant reduction in fear in both groups, d = 0.33, and an increased sense of competence in VR participants, d = 0.35. Although our hypotheses were only partially confirmed, the observed beneficial effects of VR and the audio immersion on stress levels in AWs suggest that VR exposure could be a useful way to increase resilience in AWs.

中文翻译：

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虚拟现实暴露对救护人员压力水平和胜任感的影响

虚拟现实 (VR) 暴露在临床心理学中用于治疗焦虑症。它还用于增强士兵的复原力，让他们能够面对虚拟战斗环境，帮助他们抵御创伤暴露的负面后果。大多数 VR 研究都集中在军事和急救医疗人员身上。然而，到目前为止，还没有人研究过救护车工作人员 (AW) 的 VR，他们每天都面临着创伤性情况。目前的研究旨在评估单个 VR 暴露会话对 AW 样本中自我感知能力和压力水平的影响。参与者（N = 40）被随机分配到 VR 沉浸（即实验组，n = 20）或音频沉浸（即对照组，n= 20) 的射击攻击情况。我们假设，与对照组相比，VR 参与者会报告使用视觉模拟量表测量的焦虑减少，以及能力感增加。结果显示，两组的恐惧感显着降低，d = 0.33，VR 参与者的能力感增强，d = 0.35。尽管我们的假设仅得到部分证实，但观察到的 VR 和音频沉浸对 AW 压力水平的有益影响表明，VR 暴露可能是提高 AW 恢复能力的有用方法。