Faria Sara, Fonseca Sílvia Monteiro, Marques António, Queirós Cristina
Center for Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto (FPCEUP), 4200-135 Porto, Portugal.
School of Health, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
Healthcare (Basel). 2025 Jun 16;13(12):1434. doi: 10.3390/healthcare13121434.
: The COVID-19 pandemic affected frontline workers' mental health, including healthcare workers, firefighters, and police officers, increasing the need for effective interventions. This study focuses on the pandemic's psychological impact, perceived stress, depression/anxiety symptoms, and resilience, examining if a brief virtual reality (VR)-based relaxation session could reduce psychological symptoms. : In this preliminary study with data collected in 2025 from frontline workers who had served during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, 54 frontline workers completed a baseline assessment of the perceived psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic, general perceived well-being, perceived stress (PSS-4), anxiety/depression (PHQ-4) and resilience (RS-25). Each participant then engaged in a 10-min immersive VR relaxation session featuring a calming 360° nature environment with audio guidance, after which questionnaires were re-administered. Paired samples -tests and repeated-measures ANOVA evaluated pre-/post-session differences, and a hierarchical multiple linear regression model tested predictors of the change in stress. : Pre-session results showed moderate perceived stress and resilience and low depression/anxiety. Occupation groups varied in baseline stress, mostly reporting negative pandemic psychological effects. After VR, significantly perceived well-being increased, and stress decreased, whereas depression/anxiety changes were nonsignificant. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a main effect of time on stress ( = 0.003) without occupation-by-time interaction ( = 0.246), indicating all occupational groups benefited similarly from the VR session. Hierarchical regression indicated baseline depression and higher perceived pandemic-related harm independently predicted greater stress reduction, whereas resilience and baseline anxiety showed no statistically significant results. : A single VR relaxation session lowered perceived stress among frontline workers, particularly those reporting higher baseline depression or pandemic-related burden. Limitations include the absence of a control group. Results support VR-based interventions as feasible, rapidly deployable tools for high-stress settings. Future research should assess longer-term outcomes, compare VR to alternative interventions, and consider multi-session protocols.
新冠疫情影响了一线工作者的心理健康，包括医护人员、消防员和警察，这增加了对有效干预措施的需求。本研究聚焦于疫情的心理影响、感知压力、抑郁/焦虑症状以及恢复力，考察基于虚拟现实（VR）的简短放松疗程是否能减轻心理症状。
在这项初步研究中，收集了2025年曾在新冠疫情急性期服务的一线工作者的数据，54名一线工作者完成了对新冠疫情感知心理影响、总体幸福感、感知压力（PSS - 4）、焦虑/抑郁（PHQ - 4）和恢复力（RS - 25）的基线评估。然后，每位参与者进行了一场10分钟的沉浸式VR放松疗程，其特点是有一个配有音频指导的平静360°自然环境，之后重新进行问卷调查。配对样本t检验和重复测量方差分析评估疗程前后的差异，分层多元线性回归模型检验压力变化的预测因素。
疗程前结果显示感知压力和恢复力中等，抑郁/焦虑程度低。职业群体的基线压力各不相同，大多报告了疫情带来的负面心理影响。VR疗程后，显著感觉到幸福感增加，压力降低，而抑郁/焦虑的变化不显著。重复测量方差分析显示时间对压力有主效应（F = 0.003），职业与时间无交互作用（F = 0.246），表明所有职业群体从VR疗程中获得的益处相似。分层回归表明基线抑郁和更高的疫情相关伤害感知独立预测了更大的压力减轻，而恢复力和基线焦虑未显示出统计学上的显著结果。
单次VR放松疗程降低了一线工作者的感知压力，特别是那些报告基线抑郁较高或与疫情相关负担较重的人。局限性包括没有对照组。结果支持基于VR的干预措施是高压力环境下可行、可快速部署工具。未来研究应评估长期结果，将VR与其他干预措施进行比较，并考虑多疗程方案。
