Virtual reality-based stress paradigms and early adversity: a scoping review of mechanisms and stress-response systems

Category	Detail
Condition	Virtual Reality Stress Paradigms
Key Mechanisms	Engagement of subjective, autonomic, endocrine, neural, and behavioral responses.
Target Population	Individuals exposed to early life adversity.
Care Setting	Ecologically valid environments for stress induction.

Five clusters of VR stress paradigms identified: social-evaluative, cognitive/performance-based, threat/fear-based, analogue trauma, and complex ecologically valid paradigms.
VR consistently elicits subjective and autonomic responses; endocrine and neural responses vary by paradigm type.
Social-evaluative paradigms show robust activation; threat-based paradigms elicit strong autonomic and affective responses.
Cognitive paradigms are linked to performance-related stress with limited endocrine activation.
Early adversity may influence sensitivity to specific stressor types.

Individuals with a history of early adversity.

Potential applications for personalized nutrition and stress-related behavior interventions.

Utilize VR-based stress paradigms to assess diverse stress responses.
Consider individual vulnerability factors, such as early adversity, in stress research.

Clinical Scorecard: Exploring Mechanisms and Stress-Response Systems in Virtual Reality Stress Paradigms and Early Life Adversity: A Scoping Review