ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
Metaverse dependency as a psychosomatic risk of immersive platforms: development and validation of the Metaverse Dependency-Related Experiences Scale.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Introduction: With the continuous expansion of socially immersive "metaverse" platforms, concerns regarding dependence-like tendencies associated with avatar-based virtual environments have grown. However, validated instruments that capture the psychosomatic and immersion-related characteristics central to such environments remain scarce. To address this gap, this study developed and preliminarily validated the Metaverse Dependency-Related Experiences Scale (MDRES), a self-report measure that assesses dependence-like tendencies in communication-oriented virtual environments. Methods: This research comprised two studies. Study 1 included the following two phases: Phase 1 involved qualitative item generation based on open-ended responses from active metaverse users, while Phase 2 involved item reduction and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using the candidate items. Study 2 conducted confirmatory factor analysis and examined associations between the MDRES and theoretically relevant external variables. Results: In Study 1 Phase 1, qualitative responses were utilized to generate an initial pool of 52 candidate items. In Study 1 Phase 2, these 52 candidate items were administered, and EFA identified a six-factor, 39-item structure, including Reality Avoidance (α = 0.93), Confusion Between Physical and Virtual Spaces (α = 0.91), Awareness of Physical Symptoms (α = 0.85), Sleep Disturbance-Like Symptoms (α = 0.89), Physical Discomfort/Sensory Abnormalities (α = 0.85), and Stress Relief (α = 0.54). In Study 2, the six-factor structure received initial confirmatory support, while the MDRES subscales exhibited theoretically coherent associations with psychological distress, mood, somatic symptoms, mental health-related indicators, and game engagement. Discussion: Overall, the MDRES highlights the multidimensional, psychosomatic, and ambivalent nature (risk-related and stress-relieving) of metaverse involvement and offers a conceptually grounded tool for future work on dependence processes in immersive virtual environments.
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