VR can immerse participants in realistic simulations of real-world environments to investigate health behaviors (environments meant to trigger cravings for drugs, alcohol or nicotine). These simulations that evoke feelings (addiction cravings) can be valuable aid in research & evaluating the efficacy of experimental treatments and interventions. VR can be adapted to simulate the consequences of unhealthy behaviors using body illusions, wherein the users’ own physical appearance or abilities have changed in response to their health behaviors.



VR as a stimulus for studying health behaviors

VR can be used to manipulate participants’ cognitive or emotional state to experimentally determine effects on health-oriented outcomes. Research on psychological processes is also possible, for instance with stress, which is associated with adverse effects on human health, can be readily manipulated in VR. Realistic virtual scenes depicting heights, spiders, combat, public speaking, and other stressful situations are most commonly used for exposure therapy 

VR as a stimulus for studying psychological processes in health

Virtual humans can play roles like patients or healthcare providers to examine a range of social and interpersonal research questions with total experimental control. VR can be used to examine other social influences on health, such as peer pressure on drinking or smoking or the importance of social support for effective patient communication during physician visits

VR as a stimulus for studying social processes in health

-	Antecedent of health behaviors
-	Impact of psychological processes in health
-	Broader social processes in health



Syracuse University

VR may be used to test research questions unrelated to the technology itself, but rather with the research questions related to human behavior and responses through use of VR. 

VR as a research tool

Martingano, A. J., & Persky, S. (2021). Virtual reality expands the toolkit for conducting health psychology research. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 15(7). https://doi-org.libezproxy2.syr.edu/10.1111/spc3.12606

Virtual reality expands the toolkit for conducting health psychology research

Researches may combine a virtual stimulus (virtual patient) with measurement techniques (questionnaires / in-person observation) 

VR as a stimulus delivery platform

Researches can use VR to measure the behavioral consequences of real-world interventions (clinical training). Virtual clinical training would test how participants act with a virtual patient.

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