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

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-23-2023

Subject Area

Humans; Female; Young Adult; Adult; Anxiety (psychology); Anxiety Disorders; Virtual Reality; Mental Health; Students (psychology)

Abstract

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.

Publication Title

Scientific reports

Volume

13

Issue

1

First Page

1239

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1038/s41598-023-28070-9

PubMed ID

36690698

E-ISSN

2045-2322

Language

eng

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