Mental health problems are very common among university students, and the situation worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The closure of universities, the restrictions imposed, and the reduction of social activities led to considerable changes in students' lives, thus posing new mental health and emotional challenges. Within this context, promoting university students' general well-being, in particular emotional and psychological well-being, becomes essential. In addition to the possibility of online interventions aimed at overcoming distance limitations and reaching people at their home, other advanced technologies such as virtual reality (VR) have demonstrated the potential to improve people's well-being, quality of life, and positive experiences. The study reported in this article is aimed at exploring the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a self-help VR intervention lasting 3 weeks in promoting emotional well-being in university students. Forty-two university students voluntarily participated in a six-session intervention. In each session, a different virtual scenario was presented: two relaxing experiences and four transformative experiences based on metaphors or metaphoric ones aimed at encouraging students to be aware of their emotions and positive resources. Students were randomly allocated to an experimental group and to a waiting list group that started the intervention after 3 weeks. Before and after the six sessions, participants completed an assessment by completing online questionnaires. Results showed a significant increase in both emotional well-being and psychological well-being in the experimental group compared to the waiting list group. The majority of participants said that they would recommend the experience to other students.

中文翻译：

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在 COVID-19 大流行期间促进情绪和心理健康：针对大学生的自助虚拟现实干预。

心理健康问题在大学生中非常普遍，在 COVID-19 大流行期间情况更加恶化。大学关闭、限制措施和社会活动减少导致学生生活发生重大变化，从而带来新的心理健康和情感挑战。在这种情况下，促进大学生的总体福祉，尤其是情感和心理福祉变得至关重要。除了旨在克服距离限制并在家中接触到人们的在线干预的可能性外，虚拟现实 (VR) 等其他先进技术已显示出改善人们福祉、生活质量和积极体验的潜力。本文报道的研究旨在探讨持续 3 周的自助 VR 干预促进大学生情绪健康的可行性和初步有效性。四十二名大学生自愿参加了为期六节的干预活动。在每节课中，都会呈现一个不同的虚拟场景：两个放松体验和四个基于隐喻或隐喻的变革体验，旨在鼓励学生意识到他们的情绪和积极资源。学生被随机分配到一个实验组和一个等候名单组，该组在 3 周后开始干预。在六节课之前和之后，参与者通过完成在线问卷来完成评估。结果显示，与等候名单组相比，实验组的情绪健康和心理健康都有显着提高。大多数参与者表示，他们会向其他学生推荐这种体验。