虚拟现实中的自然环境可改善情绪并减轻压力：来自年轻人和老年人的证据。

Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress: evidence from young adults and senior citizens.

作者信息

Chan Sarah Hian May, Qiu Lin, Esposito Gianluca, Mai Ky Phong, Tam Kim-Pong, Cui Jian

机构信息

Division of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.

Global Asia, Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.

出版信息

Virtual Real. 2021 Nov 26:1-16. doi: 10.1007/s10055-021-00604-4.

UNLABELLED

Large populations worldwide have been deprived from nature experiences due to mass quarantines and lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and face a looming mental health crisis. Virtual reality offers a safe and practical solution to increase nature exposure. This research examined the effects of virtual nature using a within-subject design with young adults (Study 1) and senior citizens (Study 2). Results from the young adult sample showed that walking in a virtual forest reduced negative affect due to enhanced nature connectedness, and reduced stress measured by heart rate. Consistently, the senior citizen sample reported improved positive affect due to enhanced nature connectedness after the virtual nature walk. Our findings unveil the underlying mechanism of how virtual nature may improve psychological well-being and demonstrated how virtual nature can be used as an intervention to promote mental health.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10055-021-00604-4.

未标注

在新冠疫情期间，由于大规模隔离和封锁，全球大量人口被剥夺了接触自然的机会，面临着迫在眉睫的心理健康危机。虚拟现实提供了一种安全且实用的增加接触自然机会的解决方案。本研究采用被试内设计，对年轻人（研究1）和老年人（研究2）进行了虚拟自然效果的研究。来自年轻成人样本的结果表明，在虚拟森林中行走可因增强与自然的联系而减少负面情绪，并降低通过心率测量的压力。同样，老年样本报告称，在虚拟自然漫步后，由于与自然的联系增强，积极情绪有所改善。我们的研究结果揭示了虚拟自然改善心理健康的潜在机制，并展示了虚拟自然如何作为一种干预手段来促进心理健康。