Clinical trial NCT05828329: Virtual Reality to Cope With Academic Stress
Official title: Virtual Reality to Cope With Academic Exams: Effects on Stress and Academic Performance in Physiotherapy and Nursing Students of University of the Balearic Islands
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Stress, Physiological
Stress, Psychological
Keywords: Education
Virtual Reality
Students
Lead sponsor: University of the Balearic Islands
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2023-04-25
Enrollment: 20
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Randomized controlled trial
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The new technologies may facilitate the teaching-learning process through the ubiquitous and active approach. However, stress from academic exams remains being high among undergraduate students. Although new technologies could be useful to simulate and control academic stressful situations through immersive virtual reality, no studies to date have evaluated its effectiveness. This study is designed to evaluate the effects of a virtual reality program to visualize stressful academic situations like exams on the level of psychological and physiological stress and academic performance of Physiotherapy and Nursing undergraduate students. To this end, an experimental study with two experimental groups and one control group is designed: experimental group 1 (EG1) will complete a 4-weeks program of guided visualization of exams through immersive virtual reality; experimental group 2 (EG2) will complete a 4-weeks program of traditional guided visualization of exams (through audio); control group (CG) will not receive any visualization program, as the most habitual strategy to cope with exams among students. Before and after the intervention period, all students will fulfill an online questionnaire to inform about their level of academic stress (SISCO inventory) and perceived stress from the last month (Perceived Stress Scale). Also, just before starting the exam they will have been visualizing, level of stress (0 to 10 points), blood pressure (mmHg), maximal heart rate (ppm) and salivary cortisol level will be assessed in all students. Qualifications of the exam will be also collected. Intra-group differences and between-group differences at post-intervention time will be obtained.

Detailed description: As eligibility criteria, participants should be enrolled in at least 80% of subjects of an usual academic course during the year in which the study is carrying out; and not to have previous experience in similar guided visualization to cope with stressful situations.

Intervention of EG1: The 4-weeks program with virtual reality will consist of a 30-minutes guided visualization session through virtual reality glasses (two sessions per week). Students will visualize a 360º video that simulates the entire experience of an exam, from first person perspective.

Intervention of EG2: The 4-weeks program of traditional visualization will consist of a 30-minutes traditional guided visualization session, by listening only the part of the audio used for EG1.

CG will not receive any intervention, as the most used strategy to cope with exams among students. After finishing the study, this group will receive the same program that EG1 or EG2 received, if they are interested.

The main outcomes will be the intra-group and between-group changes in the level of academic stress and the perceived stress from the last month. Also, between-group differences in the level of stress (0 to 10 points), arterial tension (mmHg), maximal heart rate (ppm) and salivary cortisol level just before exams.

As secondary outcomes, between-group differences in qualifications of exams that they will have been visualizing will be also considered (it will be taken into account their average qualifications in the degree).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* To be enrolled in at least 80% of subjects of an usual academic course during the year in which the study is carrying out.
* Not to have previous experience in guided visualization to cope with stressful situations.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Not to understand the Spanish language

Primary outcomes:
measure: Academic stress
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: Perceived stress in the last month
timeFrame: 4 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Level of current perceived stress
timeFrame: Immediately before the exam
measure: Blood pressure
timeFrame: Immediately before the exam
measure: Maximal heart rate
timeFrame: Immediately before the exam
measure: Salivary cortisol level
timeFrame: Immediately before the exam
measure: Exam qualification (0 to 10 punctuation) pondered by the average qualification of the degree
timeFrame: One week after the exam (an only measurement)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Palma De Mallorca
country: Spain
facility: University of the Balearic Islands
state: Balearic Islands
Study officials:
affiliation: University of the Balearic Islands
name: Natalia Romero-Franco, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Seabrook E, Kelly R, Foley F, Theiler S, Thomas N, Wadley G, Nedeljkovic M. Understanding How Virtual Reality Can Support Mindfulness Practice: Mixed Methods Study. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Mar 18;22(3):e16106. doi: 10.2196/16106.
citation: Riva G, Banos RM, Botella C, Mantovani F, Gaggioli A. Transforming Experience: The Potential of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for Enhancing Personal and Clinical Change. Front Psychiatry. 2016 Sep 30;7:164. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00164. eCollection 2016.
citation: Lacey C, Frampton C, Beaglehole B. oVRcome - Self-guided virtual reality for specific phobias: A randomised controlled trial. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2023 May;57(5):736-744. doi: 10.1177/00048674221110779. Epub 2022 Jul 11.