University students, especially graduate students, are constantly striving to achieve their goals, and their performance is constantly being evaluated, which creates a plethora of stressors, such as tests, a large amount of content to be learnt, lack of time, getting poor marks, and living up to their expectations. Mindfulness has been demonstrated to benefit one's emotions in a 'non-judgement' way. Evidence suggests that VR-based mindfulness practice may help individuals maintain present-moment awareness and block out distractions and may be more effective than conventional mindfulness approaches. The current pilot study aims to test the feasibility and acceptability of VR-based mindfulness practices in graduate students.
A three-arm, assessor-blinded pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) will be implemented. Participants will be randomly assigned to either mindfulness group, VR mindfulness group and control group. Participants will be randomised at a 1:1:1 ratio to the intervention groups or control group. Block randomization will be conducted by an independent research assistant using randomly varying block sizes of 4 and 6 to avoid selection bias. This study aims to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of the VR-based mindfulness practice in improving stress for graduate students. Specific objectives are as follows: 1. To investigate the feasibility and acceptability of the VR-based mindfulness practice in improving stress for graduate students 2. To investigate the preliminary effects of VR-based mindfulness practice in improving stress for graduate students 3. To understand the user experience of mindfulness practice in VR
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
45
A single mindful stretching exercise provides a conscious stretch of VR scenario. The implementation of VR exercises will be performed by the interventionist who have received training in the application of VR scenarios and have extensive experience in VR research.
The interventionist will guide the participant to do a mindful stretching exercise in the first week. During the second week, the interventionist will send participants an audio recording on how to do mindful stretching exercise via WeChat/WhatsApp.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Eligibility rate
The eligibility rate is defined as the percentage of participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria amongst the participants screened for the eligibility
Time frame: Baseline
Recruitment rate
The recruitment rate is defined as the percentage of participants who consented to participate in the study amongst the participants eligible for the study
Time frame: Baseline
Attrition rate
The attrition rate is defined as the percentage of participants who withdrew from the study before completion
Time frame: Week 2
Adherence rate
The adherence rate is defined as the frequency of the practice of mindfulness and session attendance
Time frame: Week 2
Change from baseline in the score of perceived stress assessed by The Perceived Stress Scale to immediately after the intervention
A 10-item self-report instrument that measures the degree to which events are appraised as stressful and the frequency of perceived stressful situations. Students will be instructed to report the frequency of perceived stress over the past month from 0 (Never) to 4 (Very Often). Total scores on the PSS can range from 0 to 40. Higher total scores indicate higher levels of perceived stress.
Time frame: Baseline and Week 2 (post-intervention)
Change from baseline in the score of mindfulness assessed by The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire to immediately after the intervention
A 39-item self-report instrument that measures levels of mindfulness, including five facets: observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging of inner experience and non-reactivity to inner experience. Students will be invited to indicate on a 5-point Likert scale the degree to which each item is generally true for them, ranging from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate higher levels of mindfulness.
Time frame: Baseline and Week 2 (post-intervention)
Change from baseline in the level of mood states by The abbreviated Profile of Mood States to immediately after the intervention
A 40-item self-report instrument that measures seven different subscales of transient mood states. Each question is score from 0 to 4. High scores indicate great mood disturbance.
Time frame: Baseline and Week 2 (post-intervention)
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