The effectiveness of immersive virtual reality (VR) based mindfulness training on improvement mental-health in adults: A narrative systematic review
This review suggests that using VR to assist mindfulness training is an effective and innovative way to improve mental health conditions within the adult population.
Abstract
This search generated 2523 articles published between 2016 and 2022, and of these, 106 were assessed for eligibility. This review included seven studies, with a collective total of 798 participants. VR-based mindfulness training has been shown to be more effective than conventional mindfulness - it improves levels of mindfulness and meditation experience; but also shown to reduce anxiety, depression, improve sleep quality, emotion regulation, and generate mood improvement. VR-based mindfulness training frequently contains natural 'environmentally relevant' elements, such as forest, grassland, caves, sea, etc. CONCLUSIONS: This review suggests that using VR to assist mindfulness training is an effective and innovative way to improve mental health conditions within the adult population. Further directions and limitations are discussed.