Enhancing compassion meditation through virtual reality and sensory priming: A focus on individual factors
Aida Palacios, Sara Martínez‐Gregorio, Catherine I. Andreu, Desirée Colombo, Ausiàs Cebolla, Rosa M Baños, Maja Wrzesien
International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology December 17, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2025.100657 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 92 |
| Population | Adult participants |
| Intervention | Virtual reality |
| Duration | Two-week follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Virtual reality Affect linguistics Mental image Moderation Psychological intervention Compassion Priming agriculture Mental health Cognitive psychology Empathy Sensory system Prosocial behavior Psychotherapist Applied psychology Flexibility engineering |
| Key findings | All groups benefited from compassion practice, but positive affect increased significantly more in the VR condition, and negative affect decreased significantly less in the somatosensory priming condition, compared to the control condition; VR reduced criticism toward others only among participants with low mental imagery skills. |
Abstract
Although the effectiveness of compassion-based interventions (CBIs) has been widely demonstrated to improve mental health and prosocial behaviors, not all individuals benefit equally from these interventions. Therefore, enhancing specific capacities relevant to compassion practice (i.e., mental imagery and somatosensory perception) could optimize the benefits of CBIs. This randomized controlled trial study explores the efficacy of two tools: virtual reality (VR), to improve mental imagery skills; and a heating pad used as somatosensory priming (SP), to enhance the effectiveness of a compassion practice, as compared to a control group (compassion practice only). We assessed the impact of these tools in 92 participants, randomly assigned to one of the three groups, through self-reported, physiological, and behavioral measures on three time points (before meditation, immediately after, and two weeks after). Moreover, we investigated whether individual differences in mental imagery and interoceptive skills moderate these effects. The results show that all groups benefited from the practice, regardless of the condition. Although all groups benefited from the compassion practice, positive affect increased significantly more in the VR condition, while negative affect decreased significantly less in the SP condition, compared to the control condition. Moreover, one potential moderator was identified: mental imagery skills. Specifically, criticism towards others was significantly reduced in the VR condition but only among participants with low mental imagery skills. This study underscores the importance of enhancement tools for individuals with low mental imagery skills to maximize the benefits of compassion practice.