Effects of Restorative Environment and Presence on Anxiety and Depression Based on Interactive Virtual Reality Scenarios

Zhimeng Wang, Yue Li, Jingchen An, Wenyi Dong, Hongqidi Li, Huirui Ma, Junhui Wang, Jianping Wu, Ting Jiang and Guangxin Wang
Additional contact information
Zhimeng Wang: Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Yue Li: Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Jingchen An: Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Wenyi Dong: Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Hongqidi Li: Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Huirui Ma: Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Junhui Wang: Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Jianping Wu: Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Ting Jiang: Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Guangxin Wang: Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-27

Abstract: Anxiety and depression have been growing global mental health problems. The following studies explored the effect of interactive VR scenarios to find a low-cost and high-efficiency solution. Study 1 designed a 2 (anxiety and depression state) × 4 (interactive VR scenarios) experiment, the results of 20 participants showed that the designed scenarios had good restoration and presence, assisting to improve depression mood for people with mild to moderate anxiety and depression. Study 2 further investigated the intervention effects of two environment types (urban and park) and four interactive activities (automatic viewing, free-roaming, fishing, and watering plants in the park environment), based on data from a 10-minute experiment conducted by 195 participants with mild to moderate anxiety and depression. The subjective scales, EEG and EMG, and scenario experience were analyzed and the results showed that: (1) the restorative and present VR scenarios were beneficial in alleviating state anxiety and depression; (2) the restorative environment and presence were significantly and positively related to the reduction of anxiety and depression respectively, moreover, presence mediated the restorative environment on the recovery from anxiety and depression; (3) the environmental settings, the complexity of interaction, human factors, and maturity of VR devices and technology were also key factors that influenced the effects of interactive VR scenario experience and intervention. These studies revealed VR psychological intervention scenarios could be designed with comprehensive factors. Moreover, they might help pave the way for future study in exploring the physiology and psychology mode in virtual and real spaces, enhancing intervention effectiveness.

Keywords: virtual reality; restorative environment; presence; anxiety; depression; interaction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7878/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7878/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7878-:d:848900

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().