Stress Management for Emotional Distress

Overseen By Matthew Genuchi, PhD

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Boise State University

Disqualifiers: Younger than 18

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: Unknown

Duration: 1 week

500 Participants Needed

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial aims to determine if a virtual task can reduce emotional distress in college students. Researchers seek to understand whether students feel less distressed after completing this task and if it is equally effective for both men and women. Participants will engage in either a virtual task (Virtual Sequential Emotional Processing Task) or a control task (Virtual Control Task) for 20 minutes on three different days within one week. The trial seeks college students currently experiencing emotional distress. As an unphased trial, this study offers participants the chance to contribute to innovative research that could improve emotional well-being strategies for students.

Do I need to stop taking my current medications to join the trial?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

What prior data suggests that this virtual task is safe for reducing distress in college students?

Research shows that virtual reality (VR) can help manage stress. A review of studies found VR use for stress to be both practical and effective, meaning most people can use it easily, and it helps lower stress levels. No reports of serious side effects have emerged from using VR in this way.

In the trial under consideration, the treatment involves a virtual activity designed to help with emotional distress. As a VR-based activity, it likely aligns with the positive trends mentioned in the review. Evidence suggests these activities are safe, with no major issues reported in past studies, indicating most users handle it well. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about exploring stress management techniques for emotional distress because these virtual tasks offer a fresh approach to mental health care. Unlike traditional therapy or medication, which can be time-consuming or have side effects, the Virtual Sequential Emotional Processing Task uses interactive, digital methods to help individuals process emotions more effectively. This innovative approach can be easily accessed from home and tailored to fit individual needs, potentially making stress management more accessible and personalized. By leveraging virtual technology, these methods could transform how we address emotional distress, providing quicker and more flexible support compared to conventional options.

What evidence suggests that this virtual task is effective for reducing distress?

Research has shown that virtual reality activities can greatly reduce stress, including emotional tension and external pressures. Specifically, activities that involve processing emotions one at a time can help lower feelings of anger and sadness. This method shifts focus from one emotion to another, making distress feel less intense. Additionally, being in virtual settings, similar to being in nature, has proven to reduce stress. In this trial, participants may receive the Virtual Sequential Emotional Processing Task, which could effectively lower stress in college students. The Virtual Control Task serves as a comparison to evaluate the specific effects of the intervention. ^{1 6 7 8 9}

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for college students experiencing emotional distress. Participants must be willing to engage in a virtual task for 20 minutes on three separate days within one week and complete surveys about their well-being before and after the tasks.

Inclusion Criteria

I am currently enrolled in college.

Exclusion Criteria

I am under 18 years old.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

1 week

Treatment

Participants engage in a virtual task or control task for 20 minutes on 3 different days within one week

1 week

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for changes in distress and well-being 6 weeks after the intervention

6 weeks

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Virtual Control Task
• Virtual Sequential Emotional Processing Task

Trial Overview The study is testing if a Virtual Sequential Emotional Processing Task can reduce distress among college students, compared to a control task expected not to impact distress. The effectiveness will be measured through pre- and post-task surveys.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Virtual Intervention Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Group II: Virtual Control Placebo Group 1 Intervention

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Boise State University

Lead Sponsor

Trials

14

Recruited

10,200+

National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

Collaborator

Trials

315

Recruited

251,000+

Citations

1. clinicaltrials.gov clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06888141

NCT06888141 | Stress Management for College Students Using a randomized clinical trials design, this pilot project will compare the effects of the virtual intervention with a virtual control task on emotional well ...

2. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11323791/

Virtual Reality and Stress Management: A Systematic Review The VR group experienced significant reductions in stress levels, including emotional tension and external stress, with intermediate effect ...

3. link.springer.com link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10608-025-10590-5

The Best Sequence Depends on the Target Concern Research demonstrates that feelings of anger may reduce in intensity through the activation of sadness, whereas feelings of sadness may decrease in intensity ...

4. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782924000654

The effects of digital nature and actual nature on stress ... The present study concludes that previous research has generally shown that stress levels are reduced in both digital and actual natural environments.

5. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10561583/

Impact of digital stress on negative emotions and physical ... Even before the pandemic, digital stress has been associated with psychological outcomes such as burnout, depression, anxiety, and the perceived social pressure ...

6. mdpi.com mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/13/4032

Robots as Mental Health Coaches: A Study of Emotional ... The current study investigated the effectiveness of social robots in facilitating stress management interventions for university students by evaluating their ...

7. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1551714424001575

Study of a PST-trained voice-enabled artificial intelligence ... PST applies a pragmatic and patient-driven approach to help people overcome emotional distress by developing a more positive orientation toward everyday ...

8. link.springer.com link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41666-025-00200-0

Stress and Emotion Open Access Data: A Review on ... This paper presents a review of open access multimodal datasets used in emotion and stress detection. It focuses on dataset characteristics, acquisition ...

9. arxiv.org arxiv.org/html/2505.01542v1

A Survey of Affective Computing for Emotional Support This survey paper explores recent research contributions in affective computing applications in the area of emotion recognition, sentiment analysis and ...