Does Virtual Reality Enhance the Management of Stress When Paired With Exercise? An Exploratory Study

Thomas G. Plante, Arianna Aldridge, Denise Su, Ryan Bogdan, Martha Belo, Kamran Kahn

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to assess the psychological benefits of virtual reality paired with aerobic exercise in a laboratory setting. In this study, 154 introductory psychology students were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 20-min conditions (a) walking outside around campus, (b) walking on a laboratory treadmill combined with virtual reality to experience both virtual and actual exercise, (c) walking on the laboratory treadmill without virtual reality, and (d) experiencing a virtual walk with virtual reality without actual exercise. Our results suggest that virtual reality may enhance some of the psychological benefits of exercise when paired with actual exercise under certain conditions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)203-216
Number of pages14
JournalInternational Journal of Stress Management
Volume10
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2003

Keywords

  • Exercise
  • Stress
  • Virtual reality

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