{
  "abstract": "Introduction: : Anxiety is common among graduate and professional students. Meditation has been shown to reduce anxiety symptoms, and virtual reality (VR)-guided meditation has emerged as a more immersive approach that may increase engagement. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility, adherence, and preliminary anxiety outcomes associated with VR-guided and audio-guided meditation among health professions students.\n\nMethods: Feasibility was assessed using recruitment, enrollment, retention, assessment completion, intervention delivery, and attendance-data capture. Adherence was defined as the number of QR-code-recorded meditation-session attendances during the 8-week intervention. Anxiety outcomes were assessed using the GAD-7. Within-group changes were examined using paired t tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and between-group differences in change scores were explored with an independent-samples t test. Spearman correlation analysis examined the association between attendance and reduction in anxiety.\n\nResults: Thirty-five students were assessed for eligibility, 22 were randomized, and all completed the intervention and post-intervention assessment. Both modalities were delivered as planned, and 226 session attendances were recorded. Participants in the VR condition completed a mean of 12.00 recorded sessions (SD = 5.42; range, 1–17), corresponding to 75.0% of the prescribed minimum, whereas participants in the audio-guided condition completed a mean of 8.55 sessions (SD = 5.22; range, 1–18), corresponding to 53.4% of the prescribed minimum. GAD-7 scores decreased significantly within both groups. A linear mixed-effects model demonstrated a significant main effect of time (z = 6.80, p < .001) but no significant Condition×Time interaction (z = −0.28, p = .783). Consistent with this finding, the difference in change scores between groups was not significant, t(20) = 0.27, p = .786, Cohen's d = 0.12. Recorded attendance was not associated with improvement in GAD-7 scores.\n\nConclusion: Both meditation modalities were successfully implemented, and all participants completed the study. Recorded attendance was greater in the VR condition; however, adherence varied substantially, and attendance was measured through check-in records only. Anxiety symptoms decreased in both groups, but the absence of a control group and small pilot sample preclude conclusions regarding efficacy or equivalence.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Student Mental Health, Advocacy and Wellness, Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, United States"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Marie Vazquez Morgan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Suzanne Tinsley"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2eb6qfzx5w7ba.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fdgth.2026.1957495",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13696514/",
  "id": "2eb6qfzx5w7ba",
  "issns": [
    "2673-253X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2026.1957495",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3203|Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221504575",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13696514?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13696514",
  "pmid": "42935982",
  "published": "2026-10-12",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2eb6qfzx5w7ba.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:51Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13696514",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2026.1957495"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:12Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42935982",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42935982"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:3203|Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Meditation in an academic medical institution to improve student mental health: a pilot study",
  "title_text": "Meditation in an academic medical institution to improve student mental health: a pilot study",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:33:50Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2eb6qfzx5w7ba",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Digital Health",
  "versions": []
}