Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40817383›Full record

Trial reportScientific reports2025

Virtual exposure to natural versus urban environments: a pilot study on impacts on self-compassion, self-protection, and self-criticism.

Dagmar Szitás, Júlia Halamová, Viliam Pichler

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Dagmar SzitásInstitute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynské luhy 4, Bratislava, 821 05, Slovakia.
Júlia HalamováInstitute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynské luhy 4, Bratislava, 821 05, Slovakia. julia.halamova@gmail.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2655-2327
Viliam PichlerDepartment of Natural Environment, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia.

Funding

EU NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia 09I03-03-V04-00258Vedecká Grantová Agentúra MŠVVaŠ SR a SAV 1/0054/24
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study explored the effects of a virtual forest environment compared to a virtual urban setting on key psychological factors, including self-compassion, self-protection, self-criticism, and stress. Designed as a pilot randomized controlled trial, the study included 28 adult participants who were randomly assigned to either the virtual forest or virtual city condition. Results from the Self-Compassion and Self-Criticism Scale indicated a significant increase in state self-compassion and a decrease in state self-criticism within the Forest Group. Notably, state self-criticism also decreased in the City Group. However, participants in the City Group experienced a significant increase in perceived stress and a decline in trait compassion, as measured by the Sussex-Oxford Compassion Scale. These findings suggest that virtual forest bathing may serve as a valuable therapeutic intervention, promoting self-compassion - recognized as a transdiagnostic factor for mental well-being - while reducing self-criticism, a known transdiagnostic factor of psychopathology.

Indexed as

EmpathySelf ConceptVirtual RealityAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsSelf-AssessmentStress, PsychologicalYoung AdultForest bathingRandomized controlSelf-criticismSelf-protectionStressTrial self-compassionVirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID40817383
PMCPMC12356832

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.