Trial Outcomes & Findings for Investigating the Neural Systems That Support the Beneficial Effects of Positive Emotion on Stress Regulation (NCT NCT04496258)

NCT ID: NCT04496258

Last Updated: 2024-08-27

Results Overview

Before putting on the VR headset and at the end of the experiment, participants used the modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES; Fredrickson, 2013; Izard, 1977) to rate their current mood. We defined the mDES as a mood measure because it was intended to measure participants' current mood absent of a stimulus intended to evoke an emotional response (Rosenberg,1998). The mDES consists of 20 questions and is comprised of two sub-scales for positive and negative emotions with 10 questions for each subscale respectively. Scales are comprised of averaging all positive scores together and all negative scores together. In our study, participants were asked to rate their current experience of all 20 emotions on a five-point Likert Scale (1 - not at all to 5 - Extremely). Minimum socre = 1, maximum score = 5. Higher scores indicate higher levels of positive/negative mood.

• Recruitment status: COMPLETED
• Study phase: NA
• Target enrollment: 99 participants
• Primary outcome timeframe: Baseline, and post-reappraisal task
• Results posted on: 2024-08-27

Participant Flow

Participant milestones

Measure	Positive VR Scene Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Overall Study STARTED	49	50
Overall Study COMPLETED	47	49
Overall Study NOT COMPLETED	2	1

Reasons for withdrawal

Measure	Positive VR Scene Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Overall Study Withdrawal by Subject	2	1

Baseline Characteristics

Investigating the Neural Systems That Support the Beneficial Effects of Positive Emotion on Stress Regulation

Baseline characteristics by cohort

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=47 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=49 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.	Total n=96 Participants Total of all reporting groups
Age, Categorical <=18 years	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants
Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years	47 Participants n=5 Participants	49 Participants n=7 Participants	96 Participants n=5 Participants
Age, Categorical >=65 years	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants
Age, Continuous	19.98 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 4.33 • n=5 Participants	19.08 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.45 • n=7 Participants	19.5 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 3.42 • n=5 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Female	30 Participants n=5 Participants	34 Participants n=7 Participants	64 Participants n=5 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Male	17 Participants n=5 Participants	15 Participants n=7 Participants	32 Participants n=5 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino	3 Participants n=5 Participants	4 Participants n=7 Participants	7 Participants n=5 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino	40 Participants n=5 Participants	45 Participants n=7 Participants	85 Participants n=5 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported	4 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	4 Participants n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native	0 Participants n=5 Participants	1 Participants n=7 Participants	1 Participants n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Asian	4 Participants n=5 Participants	2 Participants n=7 Participants	6 Participants n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	1 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	1 Participants n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American	4 Participants n=5 Participants	3 Participants n=7 Participants	7 Participants n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) White	30 Participants n=5 Participants	37 Participants n=7 Participants	67 Participants n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race	4 Participants n=5 Participants	3 Participants n=7 Participants	7 Participants n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported	4 Participants n=5 Participants	3 Participants n=7 Participants	7 Participants n=5 Participants
Region of Enrollment United States	47 participants n=5 Participants	49 participants n=7 Participants	96 participants n=5 Participants

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline, and post-reappraisal task

Population: Several pre-registered exclusion criteria were applied prior to data analysis including: lack of understanding of the task (N = 5), missing more than 25% of trial level data (N = 8). Additional participants were excluded due to a corrupted data file (N =1) and mixing up the positive and negative ratings (N = 1), and outlier scores greater than 3 standard deviations above/below the mean for most outcome measures (N= 1). This left usable data for a total of 80 participants.

Before putting on the VR headset and at the end of the experiment, participants used the modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES; Fredrickson, 2013; Izard, 1977) to rate their current mood. We defined the mDES as a mood measure because it was intended to measure participants' current mood absent of a stimulus intended to evoke an emotional response (Rosenberg,1998). The mDES consists of 20 questions and is comprised of two sub-scales for positive and negative emotions with 10 questions for each subscale respectively. Scales are comprised of averaging all positive scores together and all negative scores together. In our study, participants were asked to rate their current experience of all 20 emotions on a five-point Likert Scale (1 - not at all to 5 - Extremely). Minimum socre = 1, maximum score = 5. Higher scores indicate higher levels of positive/negative mood.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Mood Ratings (Pos) Baseline Positive	1.34 units on a scale Standard Deviation .57	1.04 units on a scale Standard Deviation .53
Mood Ratings (Pos) Post-Task Positive	.96 units on a scale Standard Deviation .6	.83 units on a scale Standard Deviation .54
Mood Ratings (Pos) Baseline Negative	.81 units on a scale Standard Deviation .34	.77 units on a scale Standard Deviation .51
Mood Ratings (Pos) Post-Task Negative	.71 units on a scale Standard Deviation .42	.72 units on a scale Standard Deviation .49

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: During the reappraisal task, individual ratings for each picture were taken immediately after viewing the image. The mean rating across all images was computed after the experiment was complete.

The mean of each negative and positive emotion score were calculated post-reappraisal task. Higher scores indicate higher positive and negative emotions. The scale for both positive and negative was 1 - 9 where 1 was not positive at all/not negative at all and 9 was very positive/very negative. The minimum score was 1 and the maximum score was 9.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Means of Self-reported Emotion Ratings Positive emotion rating in response to viewing neutral images	5.09 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.81	4.35 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.81
Means of Self-reported Emotion Ratings Negative emotion rating in response to viewing neutral images	2.68 units on a scale Standard Deviation .84	2.75 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.13
Means of Self-reported Emotion Ratings Negative emotion rating in response to viewing negative images	5.33 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.49	5.90 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.12
Means of Self-reported Emotion Ratings Positive emotion rating in response to viewing negative images	3.5 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.63	2.81 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.14
Means of Self-reported Emotion Ratings Negative emotion rating in response to reappraising negative images	4.14 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.46	4.24 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.38
Means of Self-reported Emotion Ratings Positive emotion rating in response to reappraising negative images	4.44 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.58	3.86 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.37

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: Pre-reappraisalTask

Population: In addition to the exclusion criteria discuss above, certain participants appeared to miss the time window they had to make their rating selection.

After the VR induced mood induction, and prior to starting the reappraisal task participants rated their positive and negative emotions on a 1-9 scale, where 1 is not at all and 9 is extremely.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=40 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=36 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Mood Induction Ratings Positive Rating	7.38 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.56	4.81 units on a scale Standard Deviation 2
Mood Induction Ratings Negative Rating	1.45 units on a scale Standard Deviation .83	2.52 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.61

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

Population: Participants who completed and had full data for the in-person experiment.

Following the VR task, participants were asked to report the task instructions in their own words. The first questions asked participants to reiterate the instructions they were given for the cognitive reappraisal task (for example: "What were you instructed to do during the 'LOOK' trials?") This is a fill in the blank question and there are no right or wrong answers. All participants' responses are viewed to ensure understanding of the task instruction. There are no scores to report for this measure. Rather this, outcome serves more as a comprehension check than an actual analysis of interest.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=47 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=49 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Debriefing of Instructions	41 Participants	39 Participants

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

Population: Participants who completed and had full data for the in-person experiment and passed all other exclusion criteria.

The next batch of questions asked the participants questions about the difficulty of the task. The questions asked were: "How difficult was it to follow the 'LOOK' instruction?" And: "How difficult was it to follow the 'DECREASE' instruction?" Participants will be rating the level of difficulty on a scale of 1 to 7 with 1 being "not difficult at all" to 7 being "very difficult". There are no right or wrong answers to this question. The range of scores is 1-7.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Task Difficulty Look Difficulty Rating	2.41 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.55	2.4 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.53
Task Difficulty Decrease Difficulty Rating	4.55 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.9	4.5 units on a scale Standard Deviation 1.9

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Immediately after the reappraisal task

Population: Participants who completed and had full data for the in-person experiment and passed all other exclusion criteria.

Participants were asked about self-reported task compliance. For example, one question asked "What percentage of the time were you able to follow the "LOOK" instruction?" The participants were rating their self-compliance for each task from 0% (non-compliant) to 100% (fully compliant). There are no right or wrong answers to this question and these responses are more descriptive/exploratory. They are not used in any specific analyses. The number of participants analyzed below indicates the number of participants that were fully compliant across both conditions.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Number of Participants With Full Task Compliance	41 participants	39 participants

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

Population: Participants who completed and had full data for the in-person experiment and passed all other exclusion criteria.

Participants were asked whether they have any experience with reappraisal or the specific images presented in the task. The first question asked "Have you ever been trained to change your emotions by changing the way you think (in therapy, or in another experiment, or anywhere else)?" Participants can choose "Yes" or "No" for this question. The participant will have to extrapolate if they have changed their emotions before using a fill in the blank. The next question asked"Have you ever seen any of these exact emotional images before?" If participants answered yes, they were once again asked to extrapolate which images they have seen and what emotional response was generated by these images using a fill in the blank option. These are descriptive and not used in any formal analyses. The number of participants analyzed below indicates the the number of participant responses we reviewed.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Number of Participants Reviewed for Possible Prior Experience With the Reappraisal Task and/or Task Images	41 participants	39 participants

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

Population: Participants who completed and had full data for the in-person experiment and passed all other exclusion criteria.

The theories of emotion scale was developed for use by Maya Tamir, Oliver P. John, Sanjay Srivastava, and James J. Gross in 2007, based on Carol Dweck's Implicit Theories of Intelligence scale (Dweck, 1999). It's used to measure beliefs about the malleable nature of emotion on a scale of 1 (strong disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) where higher scores indicate stronger agreement with the belief. There are 4 items, 2 of which are reverse coded. Scores are taken by averaging the response items. The minimum score is 1 and the maximum range is 5.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
DWECK-E (Theries of Emotion Scale)	3.59 score on a scale Standard Deviation .81	3.46 score on a scale Standard Deviation .70

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

A 10 item self-report scale that is designed to measure the big five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) on a scale of 1-5 where higher values indicate higher indication of the personality trait. Certain individual items are reversed scored on this measure. The subscales in our data were calculated using averages to produce a score. The possible range for each subscale reported included a minimum value of 1 and a maximum value of 5.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
The Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-1) Extraversion	3.27 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.14	2.99 score on a scale Standard Deviation .94
The Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-1) Agreeableness	3.84 score on a scale Standard Deviation .96	3.42 score on a scale Standard Deviation .96
The Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-1) Conscientiousness	3.6 score on a scale Standard Deviation .96	3.65 score on a scale Standard Deviation .97
The Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-1) Neuroticism	3.28 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.06	3.27 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.02
The Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-1) Openness	3.63 score on a scale Standard Deviation .78	3.64 score on a scale Standard Deviation .97

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

The BRS is a self-report measure that assesses the ability to bounce back or recover from stress on a 1-5 scale. Higher scores indicate higher levels of resilience.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Brief Resilience Scale	2.83 score on a scale Standard Deviation .69	2.69 score on a scale Standard Deviation .62

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

A 5-item scale designed to measure global cognitive judgments of one's life satisfaction (not a measure of either positive or negative affect). Participants indicate how much they agree or disagree with each of the 5 items using a 7-point scale that ranges from 7 strongly agree to 1 strongly disagree. Higher scores indicate higher levels of satisfaction. The scale is summed to produce a score, and the possible range of scores is 5-35.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Satisfaction With Life Scale	22.32 score on a scale Standard Deviation 6.25	21.31 score on a scale Standard Deviation 5.74

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

The Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) is a self-report scale for measuring the sense of presence experienced in a virtual environment (VE). It contains three subscales that assess aspects of presence: spatial presence, involvement, and experience realism. Higher scores indicate higher sense of presence. Items were rated on a scale of 0 to 6 and items for each subscale are averaged to get each subscale core. The Range for all subscales are 0-6.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
The Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) Spatial Presence	3.73 score on a scale Standard Deviation .73	3.58 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.15
The Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) Involvement	3.79 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.4	3.21 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.25
The Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) Experience Realism	2.39 score on a scale Standard Deviation .89	2.43 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.17

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

The Brief-COPE is a 28 item self-report questionnaire designed to measure effective and ineffective ways to cope with a stressful life event. Sub-scales are reported. Higher scores indicate higher use of the coping strategy. he Brief COPE is comprised of 14 scales, each of which assesses the degree to which a respondent utilizes a specific coping strategy. The scales are: Active Coping, Planning, Positive Reframing, Acceptance, Humor, Religion, Using Emotional Support, Using Instrumental Support, Self-Distraction, Denial, Venting, Substance Use, Behavioral Disengagement, Self-Blame. Items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 - "I haven't been doing this at all" to 4 - "I've been doing this a lot." Each of the scales is comprised of 2 items; total scores on each scale range from 2 (minimum) to 8 (maximum).

Total scores for each sub scales are calculated by summing the items. There is no overall total score.

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Brief Cope Self-Distraction	4.66 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.24	4.49 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.32
Brief Cope Active Coping	5.39 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.53	5.59 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.57
Brief Cope Denial	2.59 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1	3.08 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.71
Brief Cope Substance Use	3.37 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.93	3.41 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.80
Brief Cope Emotional Support	5.37 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.73	5 score on a scale Standard Deviation 2
Brief Cope Instrumental Support	5.2 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.86	4.74 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.76
Brief Cope Behavioral Disengagement	3.07 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.57	3.03 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.09
Brief Cope Venting	4.05 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.22	3.85 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.44
Brief Cope Positive Reframing	5.29 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.33	4.92 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.58
Brief Cope Planning	5.29 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.63	5.49 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.64
Brief Cope Humor	4.95 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.64	5.08 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.75
Brief Cope Acceptance	5.63 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.67	6.13 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.34
Brief Cope Religion	3.32 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.97	3 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.56
Brief Cope Self-Blame	4.93 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.59	5.15 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.65

OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED outcome

Timeframe: Post-reappraisal task

The participants were given the Beck's Depression Inventory(BDI-II) which measures symptoms of depression and were used to examine any between-subjects trait differences. The BDI-II is a 21 self-report measure looking at symptoms of depression with ratings falling between 0 and 3 (0 being "not at all" and 3 would indicate experiencing these symptoms on a constant basis). There are no subscales. Higher scores indicate higher levels of depressive symptoms. Scores range from 0 - 63

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Depression Trait Differences	12.37 score on a scale Standard Deviation 9.32	13.73 score on a scale Standard Deviation 7.45

OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED outcome

Timeframe: Baseline

The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) looks at methods of regulating emotions and will be used to examine any between-subjects trait differences. The ERQ is a 10-item self-report questionnaire assessing the use of two strategies to alter emotions: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. The scale is rated on a 7-point Likert scale with 1 being "strongly disagree" and 7 being "strongly agree". Six items are categorized as using cognitive reappraisal while four of the items assess expressive suppression. Higher scores indicate higher use of the emotion regulation strategies. The scale scores were computed by taking the average of the items included in each sub scale. The possible range for each sub scale is 1-7

Outcome measures

Measure	Positive VR Scene n=41 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a beach scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Positive Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a positive emotional response to the more positive beach scene.	Neutral VR Scene n=39 Participants Participants will explore a virtual reality (VR) environment of a neutral office scene. Participants will be randomly assigned (between subjects) to beach or office scene. VR will be presented on an Occulus Rift device. Neutral Emotion Induction: Participants are expected to have a neutral emotional response to the neutral office scene.
Emotional Regulation Trait Differences Cognitive Reappraisal Scale	4.99 score on a scale Standard Deviation .96	4.81 score on a scale Standard Deviation .89
Emotional Regulation Trait Differences Expressive Suppression Scale	3.35 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.33	4.01 score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.27

Adverse Events

Positive VR Scene

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Neutral VR Scene

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Serious adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Other adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Additional Information

Kateri McRae

University of Denver

Phone: 3038713632

Email: Kateri.McRae@du.edu

Results disclosure agreements

• Principal investigator is a sponsor employee
• Publication restrictions are in place