Adapted from: Scientific Reports volume 13, Article number: 1239 (2023) 

Abstract

Exposure to natural environments offers an array of mental health benefits. Virtual reality provides simulated experiences of being in nature when outdoor access is limited. Previous studies on virtual nature have focused mainly on single “doses” of virtual nature. The effects of repeated exposure remain poorly understood.

Motivated by this gap, we studied the influence of a daily virtual nature intervention on symptoms of anxiety, depression, and an underlying cause of poor mental health: rumination. Forty college students (58% non-Hispanic White, median age = 19) were recruited from two U.S. universities and randomly assigned to the intervention or control group.

Over several weeks, anxious arousal (panic) and anxious apprehension (worry) decreased with virtual nature exposure. Participants identifying as women, past VR users, experienced with the outdoors, and engaged with the beauty in nature benefited particularly strongly from virtual nature. Virtual nature did not help symptoms of anhedonic depression or rumination. Further research is necessary to distinguish when and for whom virtual nature interventions impact mental health outcomes.

Key takeaways

• “Exposure to natural environments can improve mental health. At least 17 systematic reviews have summarized the growing literature on this topic¹. […] Some of the strongest associations between nature exposure and health are seen for anxiety and depression, with 33% and 37% less relative risk for people living in greener neighborhoods².”

• “Virtual nature involves pictures, videos, or immersive media (i.e., virtual reality [VR] headsets) presenting audio–video or multisensory simulations of natural environments¹¹. […] Audiovisual combinations promote greater psychological benefits than audio or visual sensory inputs alone¹³. Correspondingly, researchers are increasingly studying simulated nature in VR headsets rather than other media¹¹.”

• “We conducted one of the first longitudinal experiments of daily virtual nature exposure and clinical measures of mental health, namely symptoms of anxiety and depression and a potential cause of depression: rumination. Among our sample of 40 college students, anxious apprehension (worry) decreased with virtual nature exposure relative to no exposure.”

• “Our study and others that failed to find benefits of repeated exposure [for depression] provided no interactive opportunities^21,22. Interactions may distract participants from negative emotions by refocusing attention. Comparatively, non-interactive and interactive experiences may activate the parasympathetic nervous system through relaxation, which may alleviate anxiety symptoms.”

• “The findings of this study reinforce a growing body of literature that finds virtual nature is an effective, safe, and acceptable intervention for mental health promotion¹⁵. While actual outdoor nature is likely to have stronger effects than virtual nature, virtual nature can produce an array of beneficial effects¹⁰. These extend beyond physiological, affective, and cognitive restoration to social, ecological, and “transcendent” (altered state of consciousness, or revelations where the self and environment are perceived anew) restoration⁵⁰.”

• “Virtual nature should be offered to populations who do not have safe access to outdoor settings due to psychological, physical, residential, or other barriers. In particular, virtual nature could be recommended to clinical populations¹⁶ and people living and working in isolated and confined environments (i.e., polar regions, submarines, cargo ships, and outer space)^7,8.”

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