Effects of an Immersive Virtual Reality–Based Exercise Intervention on Psychological and Physiological Outcomes in College Students: Randomized Controlled Trial
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Background Physical inactivity is a major public health issue among college students, often exacerbated by academic pressures and lifestyle shifts. Traditional exercise interventions often face challenges with adherence due to low motivation and engagement. Immersive virtual reality (VR)–based exercise interventions may address these barriers by providing interactive and motivating experiences, yet empirical evidence regarding their psychological and physiological benefits remains scarce. Objective This study aims to evaluate the effects of a 4-week immersive VR-based exercise intervention on psychological and physiological health outcomes in college students. Methods A randomized controlled trial was conducted involving 36 college students randomized into either a VR exercise group (n=17, 47%) or a no-intervention control group (n=19, 53%). Participants in the VR group engaged in immersive VR cycling sessions (two 60-minute sessions weekly) using the VirZoom VR system, while the control group continued their normal routines. Psychological outcomes were assessed during preintervention and postintervention assessments, including exercise motivation (Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2), mood states (Brunel Mood Scale), and depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory). Physiological outcomes assessed were cardiovascular fitness (3-Minute Step Test) and body composition (bioelectrical impedance analysis). We used a 2-way repeated measures ANOVA to analyze the effects of the intervention. Results Significant time×group interactions indicated enhanced intrinsic motivation (P=.02; η2=0.25); improved mood states with increased vigor (P=.01; η2=0.18); and decreased confusion (P=.01; η2=0.17), fatigue (P=.02; η2=0.16), and tension (P=.003; η2=0.24) in the VR group. Depressive symptoms were also significantly reduced (P=.03; η2=0.14). Physiological outcomes showed significant improvements in the VR group, including decreased body fat percentage (P<.001; η2=0.34) and enhanced cardiovascular fitness (P<.001; η2=0.47) compared to the control group. Conclusions This study indicated that a 4-week immersive VR-based exercise intervention may confer short-term psychological and physiological benefits among college students compared to the no-intervention control group under COVID-19 pandemic–related constraints. Future studies should adopt active control designs and be conducted in real-world settings, incorporating objectively determined intensity monitoring and follow-up to further investigate effectiveness and real-world scalability. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06902727; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06902727
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.003 | 0.004 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.005 | 0.003 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.003 | 0.002 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.009 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".