ArticleBMC psychiatry2026
Virtual reality in psychological interventions for mood disorders: a scoping review.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMood disorders impose substantial physical and psychological burdens globally. Virtual reality (VR)- based psychological interventions have gained attention as a potential approach in this field. However, current research on these interventions for mood disorders remains heterogeneous and lacks a comprehensive synthesis. A scoping review is needed to map the existing evidence, and to identify trends and gaps in this emerging area.
objectiveThis scoping review was to synthesize the existing status of applications about virtual reality-based psychological interventions for mood disorders by examining the characteristics and reported outcomes of included studies.
methodsThis scoping review was conducted following Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework. We performed systematic searches across seven electronic databases and gray literature sources. The search encompassed all available records from database inception to March 2026, focusing on studies that were about VR-based psychological interventions for mood disorders.
results18 studies were included, finding four types of VR-based psychological interventions, namely cognitive-oriented, experiential-oriented, social situation simulation, and psychoeducational tools. Based on user interaction modes, these interventions were classified into immersive interactive and non-interactive categories. Interventions generally included 1-24 sessions (4-90 min per session, 1-2 sessions weekly), with the most common being 4-12 sessions of 30-50 min each. All studies assessed efficacy, with depressive symptoms and emotion regulation as the most frequent outcomes. 55.6% included feasibility evaluation. User experience feedback highlighted five themes, including interaction design, environmental fidelity, hardware suitability, user experience, and reality transferability.
conclusionsThis review identified four intervention types by content and therapeutic orientation and two categories by user interaction modes. VR-based psychological interventions for mood disorders remain at an early stage. Future research should develop standardized intervention frameworks and conduct more high-quality trials across diverse populations to confirm their effectiveness. CLINICAL
trial registrationNot applicable.
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