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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

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Riva

    (Humane Technology Lab., Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy
    Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milan, Italy)

  • Luca Bernardelli

    (Become-Hub, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Gianluca Castelnuovo

    (Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Daniele Di Lernia

    (Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Cosimo Tuena

    (Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milan, Italy
    Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Alex Clementi

    (Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Elisa Pedroli

    (Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milan, Italy
    Faculty of Psychology, University of eCampus, 22060 Novedrate, Italy)

  • Clelia Malighetti

    (Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Francesca Sforza

    (Become-Hub, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Brenda K. Wiederhold

    (Virtual Reality Medical Center, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
    Virtual Reality Medical Institute, 1200 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Silvia Serino

    (Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy)

Abstract

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 p < 0.05) but not for the perceived hopelessness ( p = 0.110). Results for the secondary outcomes indicated an increase in social connectedness from T0 to T1 ( p = 0.033) but not a significant reduction in the perceived fear of coronavirus ( p = 0.412). Among these study variables, these significant improvements were maintained from post-intervention to the 2-week follow-up ( p > 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Riva & Luca Bernardelli & Gianluca Castelnuovo & Daniele Di Lernia & Cosimo Tuena & Alex Clementi & Elisa Pedroli & Clelia Malighetti & Francesca Sforza & Brenda K. Wiederhold & Silvia Serino, 2021. "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," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-19, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:8188-:d:607137
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bates, Douglas & Mächler, Martin & Bolker, Ben & Walker, Steve, 2015. "Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 67(i01).
    2. Mogesie Necho & Mekonnen Tsehay & Mengesha Birkie & Gebyaw Biset & Erkihun Tadesse, 2021. "Prevalence of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(7), pages 892-906, November.
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    1. Hongqidi Li & Wenyi Dong & Zhimeng Wang & Nuo Chen & Jianping Wu & Guangxin Wang & Ting Jiang, 2021. "Effect of a Virtual Reality-Based Restorative Environment on the Emotional and Cognitive Recovery of Individuals with Mild-to-Moderate Anxiety and Depression," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-30, August.

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