Daily exposure to virtual nature reduces symptoms of anxiety in college students.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to natural environments offers an array of mental health benefits. Virtual reality provides simulated experiences of being in nature when outdoor access is limited. Previous studies on virtual nature have focused mainly on single "doses" of virtual nature. The effects of repeated exposure remain poorly understood. Motivated by this gap, we studied the influence of a daily virtual nature intervention on symptoms of anxiety, depression, and an underlying cause of poor mental health: rumination. Forty college students (58% non-Hispanic White, median age = 19) were recruited from two U.S. universities and randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Over several weeks, anxious arousal (panic) and anxious apprehension (worry) decreased with virtual nature exposure. Participa

SUBMITTER: Browning MHEM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9868517 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature