Virtual Reality (VR) Based Mindfulness Practice in Relieving Stress in Postgraduate Students

NCT ID: NCT05948280

Last Updated: 2023-07-17

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 45 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-08-31
• Study Completion Date: 2024-01-31

Brief Summary

University students, especially graduate students, are constantly striving to achieve their goals, and their performance is constantly being evaluated, which creates a plethora of stressors, such as tests, a large amount of content to be learnt, lack of time, getting poor marks, and living up to their expectations. Mindfulness has been demonstrated to benefit one's emotions in a 'non-judgement' way. Evidence suggests that VR-based mindfulness practice may help individuals maintain present-moment awareness and block out distractions and may be more effective than conventional mindfulness approaches. The current pilot study aims to test the feasibility and acceptability of VR-based mindfulness practices in graduate students.

Detailed Description

A three-arm, assessor-blinded pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) will be implemented. Participants will be randomly assigned to either mindfulness group, VR mindfulness group and control group. Participants will be randomised at a 1:1:1 ratio to the intervention groups or control group. Block randomization will be conducted by an independent research assistant using randomly varying block sizes of 4 and 6 to avoid selection bias. This study aims to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of the VR-based mindfulness practice in improving stress for graduate students.

Specific objectives are as follows:

1. To investigate the feasibility and acceptability of the VR-based mindfulness practice in improving stress for graduate students

2. To investigate the preliminary effects of VR-based mindfulness practice in improving stress for graduate students

3. To understand the user experience of mindfulness practice in VR

Conditions

Student; Stress; Virtual Reality; Mindfulness

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

VR-supported mindfulness group

Participants in the intervention group will receive VR mindfulness intervention, consisting of four face-to-face sessions (twice a week for two weeks). During the first week, the interventionist will teach and guide the participant face-to-face. During the second week, participants will be required to practice VR on their own for self-help.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Virtual reality-supported mindfulness

Intervention Type: OTHER

A single mindful stretching exercise provides a conscious stretch of VR scenario. The implementation of VR exercises will be performed by the interventionist who have received training in the application of VR scenarios and have extensive experience in VR research.

Mindfulness group

Participants in this group will receive a mindfulness exercise guided by the interventionist twice a week for two weeks.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Mindfulness

Intervention Type: OTHER

The interventionist will guide the participant to do a mindful stretching exercise in the first week. During the second week, the interventionist will send participants an audio recording on how to do mindful stretching exercise via WeChat/WhatsApp.

Control group

Participants in the control group will not receive mindfulness or mindfulness plus VR.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Virtual reality-supported mindfulness

A single mindful stretching exercise provides a conscious stretch of VR scenario. The implementation of VR exercises will be performed by the interventionist who have received training in the application of VR scenarios and have extensive experience in VR research.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Mindfulness

The interventionist will guide the participant to do a mindful stretching exercise in the first week. During the second week, the interventionist will send participants an audio recording on how to do mindful stretching exercise via WeChat/WhatsApp.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. aged 18 or over;

2. enrolled in graduate programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong;

3. experienced stress: the score of perceived stress scale more than 13;

4. able to speak and write in English

Exclusion Criteria

1. diagnosed with psychiatric disorders;

2. currently taking psychotropic medication;

3. have history of photosensitive epilepsy or previous experience of severe simulator sickness;

4. receiving or have just completed other psychological interventions (e.g. stress management, mental health support, peer support, etc) within the last six months will be excluded; or

5. history of seizures and motion sickness.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Chinese University of Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Huiyuan LI

Postdoctoral Fellow

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Cho Lee WONG, PhD

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

The Nethersole School of Nursing, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Locations

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Countries

China

Central Contacts

Huiyuan LI, PhD

Role: CONTACT

huiyuanli@cuhk.edu.hk

52665977

Facility Contacts

Huiyuan LI, PhD

Role: primary

huiyuanli@cuhk.edu.hk

52665977

Other Identifiers

CREC Ref. No. 2023.216

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id