Daily Exposure to Virtual Nature Reduces Symptoms of Anxiety in College Students

Spending time in natural environments is good for mental health. But what happens when getting outside isn’t an option? Virtual reality offers a way to experience nature from indoors. Researchers are starting to ask whether it can deliver some of the same benefits.

Most studies so far have looked at single, one-time doses of virtual nature. But the effects of repeated exposure — using it day after day — were not well understood. To explore that gap, researchers studied what happened when college students used a daily virtual nature intervention over several weeks.

Forty students from two U.S. universities took part. They were randomly assigned to either the virtual nature group or a control group. The researchers tracked symptoms of anxiety, depression, and rumination — the repetitive, negative thinking that often fuels poor mental health.

The results were mixed but revealing. Over the course of the study, two specific types of anxiety — panic (anxious arousal) and worry (anxious apprehension) — decreased among those who used virtual nature. Some groups benefited more than others: participants who identified as women, had prior VR experience, were comfortable with the outdoors, or had a strong appreciation for natural beauty saw the strongest effects.

However, virtual nature did not help with symptoms of anhedonic depression — the loss of interest or pleasure in things — or with rumination.

The takeaway? Virtual nature shows promise for easing certain kinds of anxiety, especially for some people more than others. But it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. More research is needed to understand when it works, for whom, and under what conditions.

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.