EMBRACE YOUR POWER

NCT07148219 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 09242025
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 300
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to test the effectiveness of an educational tool, based on virtual reality (VR), for preventing and combating bullying and for improving the emotional well-being of pre-adolescent students. Participants will be allocated to one of two conditions:

• (1) intervention group: Embrace your power intervention for combating bullying;
• (2) waitlist (inactive control): the control group receives intervention after the study ends. The intervention group will be compared to the control group in terms of peer aggression and victimization (bullying behaviors) and emotional symptoms.

Conditions

Bullying; Distress; Bullying Victimisation

Keywords

randomized controlled trial; bullying; virtual reality; distress

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Bullying behaviors

  Bullying behaviors will be measured using the Adolescent Peer Relations Instrument (APRI) -C2. The instrument encompasses bullying victimization, perpetration, and bystander experiences. APRI represents a psychometric tool that measures teens' experiences with bullying and victimization through 36 items rated on a 6-point Likert scale (1= never, 6= every day).

  Pre-intervention (baseline), middle intervention, post-intervention (week 7)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Emotional symptoms

  Pre-intervention (baseline), middle intervention, post-intervention (week 7)

Other Outcomes (1)

• Strengths and Difficulties

  Pre-intervention (baseline), middle intervention, post-intervention (week 7)

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

VR program for preventing and combating bullying

Behavioral: Embrace Your Power: A VR Journey to Overcome Negative Emotions

Waitlist

NO INTERVENTION

The control group receives the intervention after the study ends.

Interventions

Embrace Your Power: A VR Journey to Overcome Negative Emotions BEHAVIORAL

EYP-VR represents a virtual reality (VR) educational tool to combat bullying. Using Meta Quest 3 passthrough technology, the app combines real-world classroom elements with immersive virtual scenarios, enabling safe and interactive experiences that simulate bullying situations but that do not place students in the roles of victims or aggressors but heroes or protectors. The app guides participants through narrative episodes focused on building empathy, practicing assertiveness, and learning conflict resolution techniques. AI-driven characters dynamically respond to students' actions as they engage in puzzles, and sensory feedback (visual, auditory, and haptic) reinforces key socio-emotional learning outcomes. The program will take place in classrooms during instructional hours. Each session will end with a feedback phase so that the school counselor can manage any issues that interest them.

Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 10 Years - 14 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Students 5th and 6th grade
• Students whose parents have given their consent and who have also agreed to participate in the program

You may not qualify if:

• Medical problems that have VR-based procedures as contraindicated because they can induce dizziness, seizures, nausea:
• epilepsy
• presence of seizures
• severe motion sickness- vestibular disorders
• significant vision problems that would interfere with the use of the headset
• severe migraines triggered by exposure to screens
• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Autism spectrum disorder- level 3 of severity or sensory processing disorders
• ADHD, if hyperactivity would prevent the student from staying in the exercise for longer
• Severe mental disorders: psychotic spectrum disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, present suicidal ideation
• If children have an extremely low level of literacy perceived by the teacher and counselor, and this aspect would prevent them from participating in the program.
• Parallel participation in other bullying prevention programs.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Bucharest: lead
• Remnant Dream SRL: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Bucharest

Bucharest, Romania

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Bullying

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Aggression; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Harassment, Non-Sexual; Social Behavior

Central Study Contacts

Cezar Giosan, PhD

CONTACT

+40730908050; giosan@outlook.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Cezar Giosan, PhD

Model Details: A randomized controlled trial where participants are divided into 2 groups: the intervention group that has access to the virtual reality program for preventing bullying and the inactive control group that receives the intervention after the study ends.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 22, 2025
• First Posted: August 29, 2025
• Study Start: October 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2027
• Last Updated: August 29, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Locations

RO (1)