Commercial Virtual Reality Applications: Impact on Undergraduate Students’ Stress, Mood, and User Perceptions

Abstract Mental health and well-being issues are prevalent in undergraduate students, and universities are struggling to meet demand for services. Virtual reality (VR) interventions have emerged as a tool for mental health and well-being, but research lacks end-user perspective. To examine the impact of engagement with five different virtual reality applications on mood and stress and document the user perception of students, a single group (N = 20), pre-post study design was used to evaluate mood and stress before and after the use of five commercial virtual reality applications. Students completed a visual analog scale for mood (VAS-M) and stress (VAS-S), numerically ranked their perception of each application's potential to contribute to their well-being, and numerically rated how they perceived each application to positively contribute to their well-being if used regularly. Paired samples t-tests for mood and stress revealed statistically significant VAS-M changes for Linelight [t(19) = -3.65, p <.01], MultiBrush [t(19) = -4.01, p <.001], and Nature Treks VR [t(19) = -4.06, p < .001]. Guided Meditation [t(19) = 3.08, p <.01] and Nature Treks VR [t(19) = 3.22, p < .01] yielded statistically significant changes in VAS-S scores. Brief engagement with VR applications shows potential mental health and well-being benefits to undergraduate university students. Additionally, end users perceive multiple commercial applications as holding potential to benefit their mental health and well-being. This suggests commercial VR applications could be offered to undergraduate students as well-being services on university campuses.