A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel self-administered at-home daily virtual reality (VR)-based intervention (COVID Feel Good) for reducing the psychological burden experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 40 individuals who had experienced at lea...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Giuseppe Riva, Luca Bernardelli, Gianluca Castelnuovo, Daniele Di Lernia, Cosimo Tuena, Alex Clementi, Elisa Pedroli, Clelia Malighetti, Francesca Sforza, Brenda K. Wiederhold, Silvia Serino
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
Series:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8188
id doaj-e97b125cfe6140be95bffcc259ca34d7
record_format Article
spelling doaj-e97b125cfe6140be95bffcc259ca34d72021-08-06T15:24:03ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-08-01188188818810.3390/ijerph18158188A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-UpGiuseppe Riva0Luca Bernardelli1Gianluca Castelnuovo2Daniele Di Lernia3Cosimo Tuena4Alex Clementi5Elisa Pedroli6Clelia Malighetti7Francesca Sforza8Brenda K. Wiederhold9Silvia Serino10Humane Technology Lab., Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, ItalyBecome-Hub, 20123 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, ItalyApplied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, ItalyApplied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, ItalyBecome-Hub, 20123 Milan, ItalyVirtual Reality Medical Center, La Jolla, CA 92037, USADepartment of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, ItalyThe aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel self-administered at-home daily virtual reality (VR)-based intervention (COVID Feel Good) for reducing the psychological burden experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 40 individuals who had experienced at least two months of strict social distancing measures followed COVID Feel Good between June and July 2020 for one week. Primary outcome measures were depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, perceived stress levels, and hopelessness. Secondary outcomes were the experienced social connectedness and the level of fear experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Linear mixed-effects models were fitted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Additionally, we also performed a clinical change analysis on primary outcome measures. As concerning primary outcome measures, participants exhibited improvements from baseline to post-intervention for depression levels, stress levels, general distress, and perceived stress (all <i>p</i> < 0.05) but not for the perceived hopelessness (<i>p</i> = 0.110). Results for the secondary outcomes indicated an increase in social connectedness from T0 to T1 (<i>p</i> = 0.033) but not a significant reduction in the perceived fear of coronavirus (<i>p</i> = 0.412). Among these study variables, these significant improvements were maintained from post-intervention to the 2-week follow-up (<i>p</i> > 0.05). Results indicated that the intervention was associated with good clinical outcomes, low-to-no risks for the treatment, and no adverse effects or risks. Globally, evidence suggests a beneficial effect of the proposed protocol and its current availability in 12 different languages makes COVID Feel Good a free choice for helping individuals worldwide to cope with the psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 crisis, although large scale trials are needed to evaluate its efficacy.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8188psychological stressvirtual realityCOVID-19well-beingdigital technologyself-help technology
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Giuseppe Riva
Luca Bernardelli
Gianluca Castelnuovo
Daniele Di Lernia
Cosimo Tuena
Alex Clementi
Elisa Pedroli
Clelia Malighetti
Francesca Sforza
Brenda K. Wiederhold
Silvia Serino
spellingShingle Giuseppe Riva
Luca Bernardelli
Gianluca Castelnuovo
Daniele Di Lernia
Cosimo Tuena
Alex Clementi
Elisa Pedroli
Clelia Malighetti
Francesca Sforza
Brenda K. Wiederhold
Silvia Serino
A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
psychological stress
virtual reality
COVID-19
well-being
digital technology
self-help technology
author_facet Giuseppe Riva
Luca Bernardelli
Gianluca Castelnuovo
Daniele Di Lernia
Cosimo Tuena
Alex Clementi
Elisa Pedroli
Clelia Malighetti
Francesca Sforza
Brenda K. Wiederhold
Silvia Serino
author_sort Giuseppe Riva
title A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up
title_short A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up
title_full A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up
title_fullStr A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up
title_full_unstemmed A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up
title_sort virtual reality-based self-help intervention for dealing with the psychological distress associated with the covid-19 lockdown: an effectiveness study with a two-week follow-up
publisher MDPI AG
series International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
issn 1661-7827
1660-4601
publishDate 2021-08-01
description The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel self-administered at-home daily virtual reality (VR)-based intervention (COVID Feel Good) for reducing the psychological burden experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 40 individuals who had experienced at least two months of strict social distancing measures followed COVID Feel Good between June and July 2020 for one week. Primary outcome measures were depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, perceived stress levels, and hopelessness. Secondary outcomes were the experienced social connectedness and the level of fear experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Linear mixed-effects models were fitted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Additionally, we also performed a clinical change analysis on primary outcome measures. As concerning primary outcome measures, participants exhibited improvements from baseline to post-intervention for depression levels, stress levels, general distress, and perceived stress (all <i>p</i> < 0.05) but not for the perceived hopelessness (<i>p</i> = 0.110). Results for the secondary outcomes indicated an increase in social connectedness from T0 to T1 (<i>p</i> = 0.033) but not a significant reduction in the perceived fear of coronavirus (<i>p</i> = 0.412). Among these study variables, these significant improvements were maintained from post-intervention to the 2-week follow-up (<i>p</i> > 0.05). Results indicated that the intervention was associated with good clinical outcomes, low-to-no risks for the treatment, and no adverse effects or risks. Globally, evidence suggests a beneficial effect of the proposed protocol and its current availability in 12 different languages makes COVID Feel Good a free choice for helping individuals worldwide to cope with the psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 crisis, although large scale trials are needed to evaluate its efficacy.
topic psychological stress
virtual reality
COVID-19
well-being
digital technology
self-help technology
url https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8188
work_keys_str_mv AT giusepperiva avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT lucabernardelli avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT gianlucacastelnuovo avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT danieledilernia avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT cosimotuena avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT alexclementi avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT elisapedroli avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT cleliamalighetti avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT francescasforza avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT brendakwiederhold avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT silviaserino avirtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT giusepperiva virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT lucabernardelli virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT gianlucacastelnuovo virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT danieledilernia virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT cosimotuena virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT alexclementi virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT elisapedroli virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT cleliamalighetti virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT francescasforza virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT brendakwiederhold virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
AT silviaserino virtualrealitybasedselfhelpinterventionfordealingwiththepsychologicaldistressassociatedwiththecovid19lockdownaneffectivenessstudywithatwoweekfollowup
_version_ 1721218439280852992