The Effectiveness of Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Based Mindfulness Training in Mental-Health Improvement Amongst Adults: A Systematic Review (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The concepts of mindfulness and meditation have been present within psychology for decades, and mindfulness-based interventions have been effective in mental-health improvement. They have also been widely deployed internationally. Nonetheless, typical mindfulness-based interventions last at least eight weeks. They also require support from professional trainers, and these factors obstruct the generalisation of the paradigm. In recent years, digital techniques, such as virtual reality (VR) methodologies, have been employed in tandem with more traditional psychological interventions. Conversely, few systematic reviews have attempted to synthesise the evidence regarding the effectiveness of VR-based mindfulness training on the improvement of mindfulness levels, or indeed, other mental-health outcomes. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is thus to conduct a systematic review to provide synthesised evidence for the extent, if any, to which VR-based mindfulness training can improve mental health outcomes, and notably mindfulness levels, amongst adults. In addition, this review seeks to summarise the various designed VR scenarios, as well as those elements around VR that may assist people in practising mindfulness and meditation. METHODS The search for eligible studies for inclusion was conducted via the following databases: the Applied Social Science Index & Abstract (ASSIA), PsychINFO, Medline, EMBASE, and the Web-of-Science Core Collection. Only experimental studies were eligible for inclusion, and specifically, those that compared the effectiveness of mindfulness training using immersive VR (on the one hand) with a control condition. The latter necessarily included conventional mindfulness training without the involvement of either VR or two-dimensional VR. This search generated 2,523 articles published between 2016 and 2022, and of these, 106 were assessed for eligibility. This review ultimately included six studies, with a collective total of 757 participants. In fact, the findings confirmed the efficacy of VR-based mindfulness, although study limitations and implications for future research must also be considered. RESULTS This search generated 2,523 articles published between 2016 and 2022, and of these, 106 were assessed for eligibility. This review ultimately included six studies, with a collective total of 757 participants. In fact, the findings confirmed the efficacy of VR-based mindfulness, although study limitations and implications for future research must also be considered. CONCLUSIONS Empirically, VR-based mindfulness training has been shown to be more effective than conventional treatment. More specifically, VR-based mindfulness training not only improves levels of mindfulness as a state; it is also shown to reduce anxiety, improve sleep quality and generate mood improvement. VR-based mindfulness training frequently contains natural ‘environmentally relevant' elements, such as forest, grassland, caves, sea, etc. This review suggests that using VR to assist mindfulness training is an effective, time-efficient way to improve mental health conditions within the adult population. Further directions and limitations will be discussed below. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable.