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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1471269
This article is part of the Research Topic Between Emotional Regulation and Dysregulation: Perspectives, Interventions, Tools and Technologies for Psychological Well-Being View all 5 articles

The Impact of Immersive Virtual Reality Meditation for Depression and Anxiety Among Inpatients with Major Depressive and Generalized Anxiety Disorders

Provisionally accepted
Jungjoo Lee Jungjoo Lee 1*Junhyoung Kim Junhyoung Kim 2Marcia Ory Marcia Ory 2
  • 1 University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, United States
  • 2 Texas A and M University, College Station, Texas, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a nonpharmacological approach to alleviating depression and anxiety. While technology based MBCT is a standardized cost-effective approach, there have been concerns about its feasibility and effectiveness in clinical settings. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal relationship between improved emotional regulation resulting from participation in Immersive Virtual Reality Meditation (IVRM) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) as monitored by electrocardiogram. Methods: This study was a longitudinal single-arm clinical trial in which the intervention was conducted three times a week for 10 weeks at a behavioral health unit in a community hospital (n = 26). We measured Coherence Achievement Score (CAS), depression, and anxiety. The relationships between CAS, anxiety, depression, and covariates were analyzed using a Generalized Estimated Equation (GEE). Results: The findings of our study provide evidence that the CAS scores indicative of emotional regulation function after IVRM participation were associated with a reduction in depression and anxiety. Conclusion: Among the many technology-based complementary health care interventions that are available to reduce depression and anxiety, IVRM program use increase emotional regulatory function and decrease depression and anxiety.

    Keywords: Virtual reality meditation, HeartMath, Pilot Study, emotional regulation, Mental Health

    Received: 27 Jul 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lee, Kim and Ory. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jungjoo Lee, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.