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

• Main Authors: Jessica Isbely Montana, Marta Matamala-Gomez, Marta Maisto, Petar Aleksandrov Mavrodiev, Cesare Massimo Cavalera, Barbara Diana, Fabrizia Mantovani, Olivia Realdon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-02-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Subjects: emotion regulation; treatment; wellbeing intervention; adults; virtual reality; systematic review
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/2/500

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.