Reducing Mental Health Stigmatization Among Healthcare Workers and Students Using a Virtual Reality Protocol: The VIRTUS Protocol

NCT07375199 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2025-A01472-47
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 128
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder, frequently associated with stigma, including within healthcare settings, that significantly impairs quality of life and symptoms. Virtual Reality (VR), as an immersive tool, may allow healthy individuals to experience the first-person perspective of a patient undergoing psychotic symptoms. VR exposure may facilitate perspective-taking, fosters empathy, and studies suggest VR could be a valuable tool to reduce stigma. However, the findings remain incomplete, with considerable variation between protocols and no data on implicit stigma. This study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a VR protocol simulating psychotic symptoms on explicit and implicit stigma. Methods and Analysis A randomized controlled trial involving 128 participants will be conducted. Participants will include healthcare workers and students (medicine, nursing, or psychology) recruited from CH Henri Laborit in Poitiers (France), Poitiers University Hospital, CH Nord-Deux-Sèvres in Thouars (France), and the University of Poitiers. Recruitment will take place over a two-year period. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group. The protocol involves two short VR scenarios. In the intervention condition only, both scenarios will simulate auditory and visual hallucinations and persecutory delusions, to immerse participants in the experience of someone living with schizophrenia. Stigma will be assessed before the VR intervention, immediately afterward, and at one-month follow-up. Assessment will be conducted using self-report scales (Attribution Questionnaire-27 items by Corrigan et al., 2003 (AQ-27), Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill, Taylor \& Dear 1981 (CAMI) and Reported and Intended Behavior Scale by Evans-Lacko et al., 2011 (RIBS) for explicit stigma, and a behavioural test (Implicit Association Task, Greenwald, McGhee et Schwartz en 1998 (IAT)) for the implicit stigma. The primary outcome is the reduction in stigma toward individuals with schizophrenia, assessed with the AQ-27 scale, from baseline to the one-month follow-up, comparing the intervention and control groups. The expected result is a greater reduction in stigma in the intervention group compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes include a one-month reduction in implicit associations, immediate post-intervention effects on stigma, changes in self-reported prejudice and discrimination over time. Ethics and Dissemination All participants receive both oral and written information and provided signed informed consent. The study is under review from the French Research Ethics Committee (reference number: 2025-A01472-47). Results will be disseminated through presentations, conferences, and publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Conditions

Schizophrenia Disorder

Keywords

stigma; virtual reality; empathy; implicit associations

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Explicit stigma - 1 month follow up

  Change from baseline to 1 month follow-up, in the Attribution Questionnaire-27 (AQ-27) total score, comparing the intervention and control groups. Higher scores indicate greater explicit stigma toward individuals with schizophrenia.

  Baseline and 1 month after intervention

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• Implicit stigma - 1 month follow up

  Baseline and 1 month after intervention

• Explicit stigma - Immediate effect

  Baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately post-intervention (within 30 minutes after the session)

• Implicit stigma - Immediate effect

  Baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately post-intervention (within 30 minutes after the session)

• Attitudes toward individuals with schizophrenia - 1 month follow up

  Baseline and 1 month follow-up

• Behaviors toward individuals with schizophrenia - 1 month follow up

  Baseline and 1 month follow-up

Study Arms (2)

Schizophrenia

EXPERIMENTAL

The protocol involves two short VR scenarios. In the intervention condition only ("schizophrenia"), both scenarios will simulate auditory and visual hallucinations and persecutory delusions, to immerse participants in the experience of someone living with schizophrenia.

Other: VIRTUS

CONTROL

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The protocol involves two short VR scenarios. In the control condition participant will see the same VR video, without auditory and visual hallucinations or persecutory delusions.

Other: VR Control

Interventions

VIRTUS OTHER

Participants will watch two brief VR videos. The first simulates an office environnement , the second simulates a university classroom environment. In the experimental group, psychotic-like phenomena commonly reported by individuals with schizophrenia during acute episodes (e.g., auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, paranoid ideation) will be incorporated into both videos. The purpose is to simulate the lived experience of schizophrenia. The two VR environnements were adapted form Marques (virtual Stroop test, Marques et al., 2022) and Abrams (University classroom, Abrams et al., 2024), and programmed using Unity2021.3.11 with C#. Some assets in scenes were developped with Blender 4.4. We used MetaQuest2 as headset VR.

Schizophrenia

VR Control OTHER

Participants will watch two brief VR videos. The first simulates an office environnement , the second simulates a university classroom environment. Contrary to the experimental group, psychotic-like phenomena (auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, paranoid ideation) will not be incorporated into videos. The two VR environnements are programmed using Unity2021.3.11 with C#. Some assets in scenes were developped with Blender 4.4. We used MetaQuest2 as headset VR.

CONTROL

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• aged between 18 and 65
• currently employed as a healthcare professional or enrolled as a advanced-grade student in medicine, nursing, or psychology
• no history of psychiatric or addictive disorders (except for tobacco dependence)
• covered by French social security
• able to provide informed written consent after receiving appropriate information.

You may not qualify if:

• current or past psychiatric or addictive disorder (except tobacco dependence)
• use of antipsychotic medication; first-degree family history of schizophrenia; cognitive impairment
• susceptibility to cybersickness
• recent (\<1 year) or acute neurological disorders
• history of epilepsy
• known otorhinolaryngologic conditions causing vertigo, nausea or vomiting
• pregnancy or breastfeeding
• legal protection measures
• any condition, in the investigator's opinion that would prevent valid questionnaire completion.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit: lead

Study Sites (1)

Unité de Recherche Clinique (URC), Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit

Poitiers, 86000, France

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Schizophrenia; Social Stigma

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders; Mental Disorders; Social Behavior; Behavior

Central Study Contacts

Pierre-Marie LEBLANC, MD

CONTACT

+33549445801; pierre-marie.leblanc@ch-poitiers.fr

Armand Chatard, PhD

CONTACT

armand.chatard@univ-poitiers.fr

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 12, 2026
• First Posted: January 29, 2026
• Study Start: March 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2028
• Last Updated: January 29, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Available starting 6 months after publication for 36 months.
• Access Criteria: Requests reviewed by the study team; data use agreement and IRB/ethics approval required.

Locations

FR (1)