The Benefits of emotion Regulation Interventions in Virtual Reality for the Improvement of Wellbeing in Adults and Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The impact of emotion regulation interventions on wellbeing has been extensively documented in literature, although only in recent years virtual reality (VR) technologies have been incorporated in the design of such interventions, in both clinical and non-clinical settings. A systematic search, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, was therefore carried out to explore the state of the art in emotion regulation interventions for wellbeing using virtual reality. The literature on this topic was queried, 414 papers were screened, and 11 studies were included, covering adults and older adults. Our findings offer an overview of the current use of VR technologies for the enhancement of emotion regulation (ER) and wellbeing. The results are promising and suggest that VR-based emotion regulation training can facilitate the promotion of wellbeing. An overview of VR-based training interventions is crucial for better understanding how to use these tools in the clinical settings. This review offers a critical debate on the structure of such intervention protocols. It also analyzes and highlights the crucial role played by the selection of the objective and subjective wellbeing assessment measures of said intervention protocols.

Telemedicine and Virtual Reality at Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: An Overview for Future Perspectives in Neurorehabilitation

“…In the proposed process flow, VR can be used as an advanced communication interface, in which the patient can interact with different sensory information coming from different modalities, while performing specific rehabilitation tasks within the VR environment. VR systems enable a more intuitive mode of interacting with information, for the clinicians and the patients (63,92,(97)(98)(99)(100).…”

“…To this end, TR can use different types of technologies, such as sensor-based technology, tele/video-conference, specific ad hoc software, or virtual reality ( 61 ). Moreover, it has been shown that through telerehabilitation systems it is possible to foster patient motivation and participation in their own rehabilitation process ( 62 ), thus improving their well-being ( 63 ). TR may be useful for the treatment of motor, cognitive, or psychological deficits.…”

“…Preliminary evidence indeed suggests its application in stroke, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis (MS), and Parkinson's disease (PD), in particular as for treating motor- and speech-related impairments ( 54 – 58 ). TR has also been used for cognitive deficits ( 64 ) associated to neurological diseases, such as stroke, MS, brain tumors, Alzheimer's disease, and mild cognitive impairment ( 60 – 63 , 65 , 66 ).…”

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Construction Safety Training and Lessons Learned

“…Before VR was widely available to consumers, art historians examined the effect that these symbolic images had on our minds [18], by viewing art it was supposed that it could encourage emotion and learning through our visual senses. Similarly today, VR is in a sense intended to act on the viewer's perceptions in such a way as to cause experiences and potentially feelings to encourage different human behavior [19]. Despite the literature that supports or casts doubt on VR, there is an underlying notion that the content is what truly differentiates the VR experience [2], [13, (p.1249)], and potentially has some effect on the learning experience.…”

User Experience and usability of a new virtual reality set-up to treat eating disorders: a pilot study

“…The sense of presence is the feeling of being physically immersed in a computer-generated environment and perceiving of being able to interact with the events happening in that virtual environment that can modulate users' affective responses (Riva et al, 2007;Slater, 2009). Due to the lowering cost of VR equipment and the validated effectiveness of VR in modulating users' physical and emotional responses, VR systems are increasingly being used for promoting well-being in different clinical populations (Montana et al, 2020;Parsons, 2015).…”