Effectiveness of Virtual Reality-Based Well-Being Interventions for Stress Reduction in Young Adults: Systematic Review

Background: Adolescents can be especially vulnerable to various stressors as they are still in their formative years and transitioning into adulthood. Hence, it is important for them to have effective stress management strategies.

Objective: This systematic review investigates current well-being interventions that are aimed at reducing stress among young adults. In particular, interventions using the medium of virtual reality (VR) are explored.

Methods: This mixed methods systematic review follows the PRISMA-P (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols) guidelines, and papers were gathered from databases such as PsycINFO, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, OpenGrey, and Edutopia. Predetermined criteria and specific keywords were used to search for the papers. Search results were screened and extracted with all article screening or extraction delegated among all authors. Any disagreements after reconciliation were settled by a third author. The quality and risk of bias of included studies were assessed using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) Tool for Quantitative Studies. Studies were analyzed qualitatively.

Results: In total, 20 studies were included, and qualitative analysis was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of VR-based interventions in 3 domains: nature, stress, and academics.

Conclusions: Studies using VR interventions, overall, promoted a reduction in stress and an increase in well-being. The findings suggest that VR may serve as an accessible and affordable medium of stress reduction for students and young adults. Larger sample sizes, and a greater number of included studies, may be required in future directions.