Towards virtual training of emotion regulation

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Virtual Reality Technology
• Military and Law Enforcement Training

Background:

• Emotion regulation is critical for professionals in high-stress environments like military and law enforcement.
• The STRESS project aims to develop virtual reality (VR) systems for training emotion regulation skills.
• Investigating the impact of VR training on emotional responses in threatening situations is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of different types of virtual reality training on emotion regulation.
• To assess the impact of VR-based choice-reaction tasks and reappraisal strategies on emotional intensity.
• To determine the persistence and transferability of VR training effects over time.

Main Methods:

• 15 participants rated the emotional intensity of affective pictures at two time points, 6 hours apart.
• Three groups were formed: reappraisal VR training, choice-reaction VR training, and a control group.
• A follow-up experiment was conducted 6 months later to assess long-term effects.

Main Results:

• Reappraisal-based VR training led to significantly lower emotional intensity ratings for negative pictures.
• Choice-reaction VR training resulted in significantly higher emotional intensity ratings compared to the control group.
• Training effects persisted over 6 months and transferred to similar, novel stimuli.

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality training, particularly using reappraisal strategies, is effective in enhancing emotion regulation skills for professionals.
• VR-based emotion regulation training demonstrates persistent effects and transferability, suggesting practical utility.
• The findings support the development of VR systems for training military and law enforcement personnel to manage emotional responses in threatening situations.