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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV1079

Final-Year Psychology Students’ Experiences of Virtual Reality Relaxation in Higher Education

EXPERIENCES OF FINAL YEAR PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS WITH VIRTUAL REALITY RELAXATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Psychology students experienced virtual reality relaxation as immersive, calming, and thought-provoking, with presence and embodiment emerging as key mechanisms.

The study aimed to explore final-year psychology students’ experiences of a virtual reality (VR)-based relaxation intervention in a higher education setting. A qualitative design was used, and the data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis; the poster did not provide numerical information on sample size, the data collection period, or measurement instruments. The analysis identified seven themes: initial encounter, usability and interaction, disconnection and reorientation, psychological and therapeutic potential, bodily and sensory awareness, comparison of expectations with reality, and potential users and cultural context. Students generally described the VR experience as immersive, calming, embodied, and thought-provoking. Presence and embodiment emerged as key mechanisms in VR-based relaxation, while usability and perceived safety were identified as factors shaping emotional engagement. The findings indicate that the VR experience is culturally and contextually mediated, particularly that the ways in which Latin American users interpret and evaluate VR immersion are influenced by their cultural context. The authors report that VR relaxation may support emotion regulation and experiential learning in psychology education, and that usability, psychological safety, and cultural appropriateness should be prioritized in its implementation.

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