Badger Julia R, Rovira Aitor, Freeman Daniel, Bowes Lucy
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
Virtual Real. 2023;27(3):2623-2632. doi: 10.1007/s10055-023-00829-5. Epub 2023 Jul 12.
Understanding how bullying victimisation influences cognitive and emotional processes may help to direct early intervention to prevent the development of psychopathology. In a convenience sample of 67 female adolescents, we assessed the potential of a newly developed classroom-set bullying experience in virtual reality (VR) to evoke psychological reactions. Two VR experiences were co-developed with young people, one neutral and one hostile (bullying). Participants were matched and assigned to a condition based on measures of anxiety, depression, paranoia, and previous bullying, before experiencing either the neutral or hostile scenario. Before and after the VR session, participants completed measures of negative affect and levels of distress. All participants remained immersed for the whole duration, which supports the acceptability of using these VR experiences with more vulnerable participants. Those experiencing the hostile version reported greater negative affect post-immersion compared to those experiencing the neutral version ( = .018; = 0.61). Although non-significant, a similar outcome was found regarding distress ( = .071; = 0.37). Whilst we did not find a significant relationship between pre-existing internalisation on negative affect and distress, our sample was limited by containing adolescents with relatively low levels of previous bullying experience. Yet we still found evidence that the VR scenario evoked bullying-related psychological reactions. Further testing with a more representative groups of adolescents, especially those with more experience of bullying, would be advised. The VR scenario could potentially be used in educational and therapeutic settings to enhance empathy towards victimised children or enhance resilience following victimisation.
了解欺凌受害如何影响认知和情感过程，可能有助于指导早期干预，以预防精神病理学的发展。在一个由67名女性青少年组成的便利样本中，我们评估了一种新开发的虚拟现实（VR）课堂欺凌体验引发心理反应的可能性。我们与年轻人共同开发了两种VR体验，一种是中性的，一种是敌意的（欺凌）。在体验中性或敌意场景之前，根据焦虑、抑郁、偏执和以前的欺凌情况对参与者进行匹配并分配到相应条件。在VR课程前后，参与者完成了负面影响和痛苦程度的测量。所有参与者在整个过程中都沉浸其中，这支持了将这些VR体验用于更易受伤害参与者的可接受性。与体验中性版本的参与者相比，体验敌意版本的参与者在沉浸后报告了更大的负面影响（=0.018；=0.61）。虽然不显著，但在痛苦方面也发现了类似的结果（=0.071；=0.37）。虽然我们没有发现先前内化与负面影响和痛苦之间存在显著关系，但我们的样本受到限制，因为其中包含先前欺凌经历相对较少的青少年。然而，我们仍然发现有证据表明VR场景引发了与欺凌相关的心理反应。建议对更具代表性的青少年群体进行进一步测试，尤其是那些有更多欺凌经历的青少年。VR场景有可能用于教育和治疗环境，以增强对受欺凌儿童的同理心或提高受欺凌后的恢复力。
