Psychophysiological Responses in Virtual Reality for Assessing Current Nicotine Use and Future Addiction Risk Among...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Youth nicotine addiction is a significant public health issue, with vaping being a primary route to nicotine use.
• Traditional self-report measures for craving and addiction risk are limited by bias and lack real-time sensitivity.
• Virtual reality (VR) offers a controlled environment for cue exposure, capturing multimodal data (behavioral, physiological, subjective) for a more implicit assessment of addiction risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if virtual reality (VR) can differentiate young adult vapers from non-vapers using psychophysiological responses (eye gaze, heart rate, electrodermal activity) to vaping cues.
• To explore the relationship between these multimodal biomarkers and self-reported measures of craving, dependence, and quitting intentions.

Main Methods:

• Forty young adults (18-21 years; 20 vapers, 20 non-vapers) participated in a single laboratory session.
• Participants experienced neutral and vaping-related VR scenes (with/without social pressure), while eye gaze, heart rate, and electrodermal activity were continuously recorded.
• Post-scene assessments included craving, sense of presence, and social presence, followed by a short interview. Data were analyzed using ANOVAs, correlations, and regression.

Main Results:

• Pilot study data collection is ongoing, with 7 participants enrolled as of March 2026.
• The study protocol has received institutional review board approval and has been publicly registered.
• Development of VR stimuli, designed with youth input for ecological validity, is complete.

Conclusions:

• This pilot study integrates VR and multimodal biometrics to assess vaping cue reactivity in young adults.
• Findings are expected to inform the development of VR-based tools for identifying early nicotine use risk markers.
• The approach aims to support scalable early detection and prevention of nicotine addiction and initiation, with potential adaptation for younger adolescents.