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

NCT05948280 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: CREC Ref. No. 2023.216
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 45
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

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.

Conditions

Student; Stress; Virtual Reality; Mindfulness

Keywords

graduate student; stress; mental health; mindfulness; virtual reality

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Eligibility rate

  The eligibility rate is defined as the percentage of participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria amongst the participants screened for the eligibility

  Baseline

• Recruitment rate

  The recruitment rate is defined as the percentage of participants who consented to participate in the study amongst the participants eligible for the study

  Baseline

• Attrition rate

  The attrition rate is defined as the percentage of participants who withdrew from the study before completion

  Week 2

• Adherence rate

  The adherence rate is defined as the frequency of the practice of mindfulness and session attendance

  Week 2

• Change from baseline in the score of perceived stress assessed by The Perceived Stress Scale to immediately after the intervention

  A 10-item self-report instrument that measures the degree to which events are appraised as stressful and the frequency of perceived stressful situations. Students will be instructed to report the frequency of perceived stress over the past month from 0 (Never) to 4 (Very Often). Total scores on the PSS can range from 0 to 40. Higher total scores indicate higher levels of perceived stress.

  Baseline and Week 2 (post-intervention)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Change from baseline in the score of mindfulness assessed by The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire to immediately after the intervention

  Baseline and Week 2 (post-intervention)

• Change from baseline in the level of mood states by The abbreviated Profile of Mood States to immediately after the intervention

  Baseline and Week 2 (post-intervention)

Other Outcomes (1)

• Acceptability of the intervention

  Week 2

Study Arms (3)

VR-supported mindfulness group

EXPERIMENTAL

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.

Other: Virtual reality-supported mindfulness

Mindfulness group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

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

Other: Mindfulness

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

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

Interventions

Virtual reality-supported mindfulness 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.

VR-supported mindfulness group

Mindfulness 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.

Mindfulness group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• aged 18 or over;
• enrolled in graduate programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong;
• experienced stress: the score of perceived stress scale more than 13;
• able to speak and write in English

You may not qualify if:

• diagnosed with psychiatric disorders;
• currently taking psychotropic medication;
• have history of photosensitive epilepsy or previous experience of severe simulator sickness;
• 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
• history of seizures and motion sickness.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Chinese University of Hong Kong: lead

Study Sites (1)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Interventions

Mindfulness

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Behavior Therapy; Psychotherapy; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Study Officials

• Cho Lee WONG, PhD

  The Nethersole School of Nursing, Chinese University of Hong Kong

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Huiyuan LI, PhD

CONTACT

52665977; huiyuanli@cuhk.edu.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The outcomes assessor who is independent of the research will be trained before formally conducting data collecting.
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Postdoctoral Fellow

Model Details: Participants are assigned to three groups in parallel for the duration of the study. Participants in Group A receive Virtual reality-based mindfulness. Participants in Group B receive general mindfulness exercises. Participants in Group C receive no intervention as control.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 5, 2023
• First Posted: July 17, 2023
• Study Start: August 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2023
• Study Completion: January 1, 2024
• Last Updated: July 17, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CN (1)