The influence of mindfulness training in virtual reality on symptom severity and cognitive functioning of patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective psychosis - a case series pilot study
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Updated: Jan 18, 2026
Development of a Virtual Reality Assessment of Everyday Living Skills
Published on: April 23, 2014
Iga Plencler1,2, Stanisław Radoń3, Andrzej Cechnicki1
1Uniwersytet Jagielloński Collegium Medicum, Wydział Lekarski, Katedra Psychiatrii, Ośrodek Psychiatrii Środowiskowej i Badań nad Psychozami, Kraków.
Objectives:
An idiographic evaluation of the effectiveness of including Mindfulness Skills Training in Virtual Reality (MST-VR) in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia disorders and its comparison with the results of a group effects analysis.
Methods:
Twenty-five patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective psychosis were assessed at 4-week intervals (one month before training, at the beginning and the end of training) using: Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS-6), Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI®-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III). The Reliable Change Index (RCI) was used for statistical evaluation, and Cohen's d was used to assess effect size.
Results:
Twenty patients (80%) achieved improvements in the severity of general symptoms, positive and negative symptoms, stress, anxiety, depression, and cognitive functioning. Individual patients showed deterioration in anxiety (2 patients, 8%) and stress (1 patient, 4%). The RCI method showed greater sensitivity in detecting changes than standard monographic statistical methods.
Conclusions:
The MST-VR intervention as an adjunctive treatment for patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective psychosis is safe and beneficial. The RCI method is valuable in assessing the dynamics of individual patient outcomes.
