Effect of Active Virtual Reality Experience on the Memory and Emotion of an Indirect Exposure to an Adverse Event

Abstract

Emergency responders such as firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical service (EMS) providers are exposed to significant risks of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal ideation. Existing psychological interventions are focused on improving generic coping skills rather than dealing with the link between the memory of the adverse event and its reexperience. In this regard, this paper introduces a novel framework to address mental health problems among first responders by examining the impact of active virtual reality (VR) on memory and emotion following indirect exposure to an adverse event. Especially, we hypothesize that semantically irrelevant VR experience suppresses the retrieval of the memory of the adverse event and alleviate associated emotion. Our study consists of three stages: (a) watching a video of a severe car accident, (b) doing a semantically irrelevant VR activity (exploring a natural environment), and (c) taking a recall-based memory test of the car accident. To assess the changes in emotion, the Positive And Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) survey is used before watching the car accident video, after watching the video, and after performing the VR activity. In addition, participants’ heart rate and eye tracking measures are collected to understand how physiological and eye movement changes along the phases. Expected findings will inform the design of the VR-based mental health interventions and highlight VR as an effective tool for addressing mental health challenges faced by first responders.