Examining the Feasibility and Acceptability of Identifying Signs of Social Anxiety, in University Students Aged 18-25, While Watching 360° Immersive Films.
Jessica Eve Jackson, Ann Cox, Chris Windmill and 1 others
PMID 39794919WHAT IT FOUND
Seven healthy students watched immersive anxiety scenarios in VR headsets.
Heart rate did not correlate with self-reported anxiety scores, but it rose significantly in the ten seconds after specific social events. Participants found the headsets comfortable but reported technical glitches and difficulty knowing where to look.
Key findings
01Heart rate did not correlate with total social anxiety scores or with scores for individual questions mapped to specific video events.
02Heart rate measured ten seconds after an anxiety-provoking event was significantly higher than during the event itself.
03Participants found the VR headset comfortable but reported technical issues like image freezing and difficulty knowing where to focus their attention.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only seven participants, which is too small to draw any conclusions about validity or effectiveness. All participants were healthy students who did not meet the threshold for social anxiety disorder, so the results do not apply to patients with the condition. Baseline heart rate data may have been inaccurate because participants were not given a rest period to ensure they were relaxed before recording started. Only two participants completed the RCADS scale, preventing statistical analysis for that measure. Participants often did not look directly at the anxiety-provoking events, meaning the intended stimuli may not have been fully experienced.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant rise in heart rate after events as evidence that this VR tool can diagnose social anxiety. The study failed to find any correlation between heart rate and validated anxiety scores, and the sample consisted of only seven healthy students who did not have the condition.