OBJECTIVE: A virtual reality environment (VRE) was designed to expose participants to substance use and sexual risk-taking cues to examine the utility of VR in eliciting adolescent physiological arousal. METHODS: 42 adolescents (55% male) with a mean age of 14.54 years (SD = 1.13) participated. Physiological arousal was examined through heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and self-reported somatic arousal. A within-subject design (neutral VRE, VR party, and neutral VRE) was utilized to examine changes in arousal. RESULTS: The VR party demonstrated an increase in physiological arousal relative to a neutral VRE. Examination of individual segments of the party (e.g., orientation, substance use, and sexual risk) demonstrated that HR was significantly elevated across all segments, whereas only the orientation and sexual risk segments demonstrated significant impact on RSA. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence that VREs can be used to generate physiological arousal in response to substance use and sexual risk cues.
OBJECTIVE: A virtual reality environment (VRE) was designed to expose participants to substance use and sexual risk-taking cues to examine the utility of VR in eliciting adolescent physiological arousal. METHODS: 42 adolescents (55% male) with a mean age of 14.54 years (SD = 1.13) participated. Physiological arousal was examined through heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and self-reported somatic arousal. A within-subject design (neutral VRE, VR party, and neutral VRE) was utilized to examine changes in arousal. RESULTS: The VR party demonstrated an increase in physiological arousal relative to a neutral VRE. Examination of individual segments of the party (e.g., orientation, substance use, and sexual risk) demonstrated that HR was significantly elevated across all segments, whereas only the orientation and sexual risk segments demonstrated significant impact on RSA. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence that VREs can be used to generate physiological arousal in response to substance use and sexual risk cues.
Entities:
Keywords:
adolescents; physiological arousal; sexual risk; substance use; virtual reality
Authors: Lyndal Bond; George Patton; Sara Glover; John B Carlin; Helen Butler; Lyndal Thomas; Glenn Bowes Journal: J Epidemiol Community Health Date: 2004-12 Impact factor: 3.710
Authors: Christianne Esposito-Smythers; Anthony Spirito; Christopher W Kahler; Jeffrey Hunt; Peter Monti Journal: J Consult Clin Psychol Date: 2011-10-17
Authors: Frank H Wilhelm; Monique C Pfaltz; James J Gross; Iris B Mauss; Sun I Kim; Brenda K Wiederhold Journal: Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback Date: 2005-09
Authors: Julie Dalgaard Guldager; Satayesh Lavasani Kjær; Ulrike Grittner; Christiane Stock Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-03-10 Impact factor: 3.390