IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i13p4855-d380781.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychological and Physiological Responses in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder: The Use of Acute Exercise and Virtual Reality Environment

Author

Listed:
  • Tsai-Chiao Wang

    (Institute of Physical Education, Health & Leisure Studies, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan)

  • Cindy Hui-Ping Sit

    (Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

  • Ta-Wei Tang

    (Department of Leisure and Recreation Management, Asia University, Taichung 413, Taiwan
    Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 413, Taiwan
    Institute of Innovation and Circular Economy, Asia University, Taichung 413, Taiwan)

  • Chia-Liang Tsai

    (Institute of Physical Education, Health & Leisure Studies, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan)

Abstract

Virtual exercise therapy is considered a useful method by which to encourage patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) to engage in aerobic exercise in order to reduce stress. This study was intended to explore the psychological and physiological responses of patients with GAD after cycling in a virtual environment containing natural images. Seventy-seven participants with GAD were recruited in the present study and randomly assigned to a virtual nature (VN) or a virtual abstract painting (VAP) group. Their electroencephalogram alpha activity, perceived stress, and levels of restorative quality and satisfaction were assessed at baseline and after an acute bout of 20 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. The results showed that both the VN and VAP groups showed significantly higher alpha activity post-exercise as compared to pre-exercise. The VN group relative to the VAP group exhibited higher levels of stress-relief, restorative quality, and personal satisfaction. These findings imply that a virtual exercise environment is an effective way to induce a relaxing effect in patients with GAD. However, they exhibited more positive psychological responses when exercising in such an environment with natural landscapes.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsai-Chiao Wang & Cindy Hui-Ping Sit & Ta-Wei Tang & Chia-Liang Tsai, 2020. "Psychological and Physiological Responses in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder: The Use of Acute Exercise and Virtual Reality Environment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:13:p:4855-:d:380781
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/13/4855/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/13/4855/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hudson, Sarah & Matson-Barkat, Sheila & Pallamin, Nico & Jegou, Guillaume, 2019. "With or without you? Interaction and immersion in a virtual reality experience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 459-468.
    2. Sarah Hudson & Sheila Matson-Barkat & Nico Pallamin & Guillaume Jégou, 2019. "With or without you? Interaction and immersion in a virtual reality experience," Post-Print hal-02159315, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Audrey Seiz & Byoung-Suk Kweon & Christopher D. Ellis & Hyuk Oh & Kyle Pietro, 2023. "Exploring the Psychophysiological Effects of Viewing Urban Nature through Virtual Reality Using Electroencephalography and Perceived Restorativeness Scale Measures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Marta Linares-Chamorro & Neus Domènech-Oller & Javier Jerez-Roig & Joel Piqué-Buisan, 2022. "Immersive Therapy for Improving Anxiety in Health Professionals of a Regional Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Quasi-Experimental Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-10, August.
    3. Tsai-Chiao Wang & Ta-Wei Tang & Chia-Liang Tsai, 2022. "The Visual Attention and Psychological Responses from Older Customers to Wellness Service Pictures of Hotels," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-12, January.
    4. Rebecca Reece & Anna Bornioli & Isabelle Bray & Nigel Newbutt & David Satenstein & Chris Alford, 2022. "Exposure to Green, Blue and Historic Environments and Mental Well-Being: A Comparison between Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Display and Flat Screen Exposure," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-21, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wedel, Michel & Bigné, Enrique & Zhang, Jie, 2020. "Virtual and augmented reality: Advancing research in consumer marketing," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 443-465.
    2. Pathak, Kanishka & Prakash, Gyan, 2023. "Exploring the role of augmented reality in purchase intention: Through flow and immersive experience," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    3. Lifu Li & Yafei Feng & Anqi Zhao, 2024. "An interaction–immersion model in live streaming commerce: the moderating role of streamer attractiveness," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(3), pages 701-716, September.
    4. Cowan, Kirsten & Spielmann, Nathalie & Horn, Esther & Griffart, Clovis, 2021. "Perception is reality… How digital retail environments influence brand perceptions through presence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 86-96.
    5. Maksim Godovykh & Carissa Baker & Alan Fyall, 2022. "VR in Tourism: A New Call for Virtual Tourism Experience amid and after the COVID-19 Pandemic," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-11, February.
    6. Mohamed Daassi & Sana Debbabi, 2021. "Intention to reuse AR-based apps: The combined role of the sense of immersion, product presence and perceived realism," Post-Print hal-03372420, HAL.
    7. Kautish, Pradeep & Paul, Justin & Sharma, Rajesh, 2021. "The effect of assortment and fulfillment on shopping assistance and efficiency: An e-tail servicescape perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    8. de Regt, Anouk & Plangger, Kirk & Barnes, Stuart J., 2021. "Virtual reality marketing and customer advocacy: Transforming experiences from story-telling to story-doing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 513-522.
    9. Ali Yuce & Huseyin Arasli & Ali Ozturen & Mustafa Daskin, 2020. "Feeling the Service Product Closer: Triggering Visit Intention via Virtual Reality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-17, August.
    10. Yu Zhang & Hanyang Cao & Wang Zhang & Yating Wang, 2023. "How Digital Skills Influence on Digital Participation in China? The Mediating Roles of Online Interpersonal Communication and Online Immersion," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    11. Cowan, Kirsten & Ketron, Seth & Kostyk, Alena & Kristofferson, Kirk, 2023. "Can you smell the (virtual) roses? The influence of olfactory cues in virtual reality on immersion and positive brand responses," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 385-399.
    12. Gligor, David M. & Pillai, Kishore Gopalakrishna & Golgeci, Ismail, 2021. "Theorizing the dark side of business-to-business relationships in the era of AI, big data, and blockchain," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 79-88.
    13. Christine Petr & Paul Caudan, 2024. "Ethical marketing framework for metaverse simulated experiences of tourism (SET): An exploration of consumers’ aspirations and fears," Post-Print hal-04554364, HAL.
    14. Yu Li & HakJun Song & Rui Guo, 2021. "A Study on the Causal Process of Virtual Reality Tourism and Its Attributes in Terms of Their Effects on Subjective Well-Being during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-16, January.
    15. Pizzi, Gabriele & Vannucci, Virginia & Aiello, Gaetano, 2020. "Branding in the time of virtual reality: Are virtual store brand perceptions real?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 502-510.
    16. Mkedder, Nadjim & Jain, Varsha & Salunke, Parth, 2024. "Determinants of virtual reality stores influencing purchase intention: An interpretive structural modeling approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Gugenishvili, Ilia & Nyström, Anna-Greta, 2023. "Virtual reality and charitable giving – the role of space, presence, and attention," 32nd European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2023: Realising the digital decade in the European Union – Easier said than done? 277967, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    18. Laura Studen & Victor Tiberius, 2020. "Social Media, Quo Vadis? Prospective Development and Implications," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-22, August.
    19. Barney, Christian & Hancock, Tyler & Esmark Jones, Carol L. & Kazandjian, Brett & Collier, Joel E., 2022. "Ideally human-ish: How anthropomorphized do you have to be in shopper-facing retail technology?," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(4), pages 685-705.
    20. Battisti, Enrico & Alfiero, Simona & Leonidou, Erasmia, 2022. "Remote working and digital transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Economic–financial impacts and psychological drivers for employees," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 38-50.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:13:p:4855-:d:380781. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.