Virtual Reality (VR) Based Mindfulness Practice in Relieving Stress in Postgraduate Students

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Student; Mindfulness; Virtual Reality; Stress

Treatments: Other: Mindfulness; Other: Virtual reality-supported mindfulness

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05948280

CREC Ref. No. 2023.216

Details and patient eligibility

About

University students, especially graduate students, are constantly striving to achieve their goals, and their performance is constantly being evaluated, which creates a plethora of stressors, such as tests, a large amount of content to be learnt, lack of time, getting poor marks, and living up to their expectations. Mindfulness has been demonstrated to benefit one's emotions in a 'non-judgement' way. Evidence suggests that VR-based mindfulness practice may help individuals maintain present-moment awareness and block out distractions and may be more effective than conventional mindfulness approaches. The current pilot study aims to test the feasibility and acceptability of VR-based mindfulness practices in graduate students.

Full description

A three-arm, assessor-blinded pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) will be implemented. Participants will be randomly assigned to either mindfulness group, VR mindfulness group and control group. Participants will be randomised at a 1:1:1 ratio to the intervention groups or control group. Block randomization will be conducted by an independent research assistant using randomly varying block sizes of 4 and 6 to avoid selection bias. This study aims to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of the VR-based mindfulness practice in improving stress for graduate students.

Specific objectives are as follows:

1. To investigate the feasibility and acceptability of the VR-based mindfulness practice in improving stress for graduate students
2. To investigate the preliminary effects of VR-based mindfulness practice in improving stress for graduate students
3. To understand the user experience of mindfulness practice in VR

Enrollment: 45 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. aged 18 or over;
2. enrolled in graduate programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong;
3. experienced stress: the score of perceived stress scale more than 13;
4. able to speak and write in English

Exclusion criteria

1. diagnosed with psychiatric disorders;
2. currently taking psychotropic medication;
3. have history of photosensitive epilepsy or previous experience of severe simulator sickness;
4. receiving or have just completed other psychological interventions (e.g. stress management, mental health support, peer support, etc) within the last six months will be excluded; or
5. history of seizures and motion sickness.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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45 participants in 3 patient groups

VR-supported mindfulness group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the intervention group will receive VR mindfulness intervention, consisting of four face-to-face sessions (twice a week for two weeks). During the first week, the interventionist will teach and guide the participant face-to-face. During the second week, participants will be required to practice VR on their own for self-help.

Treatment:

Other: Virtual reality-supported mindfulness

Mindfulness group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants in this group will receive a mindfulness exercise guided by the interventionist twice a week for two weeks.

Treatment:

Other: Mindfulness

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in the control group will not receive mindfulness or mindfulness plus VR.