Enhancing Emergency Preparedness Through Immersive Virtual Reality: A Comparative Study of Stress Responses in...

Radiological response requires personnel to act near a hazard they cannot directly sense and to rely on indirect information from labels and instruments. This study compared radiation-source-related stress responses among professional firefighters completing either an immersive virtual reality radiological simulation or a task-matched physical simulation. The study included 55 firefighters, with 29 assigned to immersive virtual reality and 26 to the physical simulation. Both conditions required participants to approach a simulated radiological scene, identify the box associated with the highest simulated radiation reading, and examine radiation-related labels. Post-simulation responses were measured with a seven-item Radiation Source Stress Questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis identified two response dimensions: Behavioral and Cognitive Response to the Radiation Source, and Perceived Risk and Emotional Concern. Behavioral and Cognitive Response to the Radiation Source was similar across conditions. Perceived Risk and Emotional Concern was higher after immersive virtual reality than after physical simulation, even though physical-simulation participants learned only during debriefing that no radioactive material was present. Regression models showed that general risk-taking propensity was a negative predictor of both response dimensions, whereas baseline perceived stress was not statistically significant. Together, the findings support the use of immersive virtual reality as a controlled method for examining selected psychological responses to simulated radiological response tasks, particularly source proximity and perceived exposure risk. The results also identify risk-taking propensity as an important individual-difference variable when evaluating responder reactions to simulated radiological hazards.