Virtual Reality Trier Social Stress and Virtual Supermarket Exposure: Electrocardiogram Correlates of Food Craving and Eating Traits in Adolescents.
Background/Objectives: Acute stress is known to influence food-related motivation and decision-making, often promoting a preference for energy-dense, palatable foods. However, traditional laboratory paradigms have limited ecological validity. This study examined the relationship between stress-induc...
| Published in: | Nutrients Vol. 17; no. 24; pp. 3924 - 3947 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
MDPI
Dec2025
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=190470864&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 190470864 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 20726643 B0TT jtl: Nutrients issn: 20726643 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2025 vid: 17 iid: 24 pid: 97109 pub: MDPI artinfo: ui: 190470864 190470864 190470864 10.3390/nu17243924 190470864 ppf: 3924 ppct: 23 formats: tig: atl: Virtual Reality Trier Social Stress and Virtual Supermarket Exposure: Electrocardiogram Correlates of Food Craving and Eating Traits in Adolescents. aug: au: Onita, Cristiana Amalia Matei, Daniela-Viorelia Chelarasu, Elena Lupu, Robert Gabriel Petrescu-Miron, Diana Visnevschi, Anatolie Vudu, Stela Corciova, Calin Fuior, Robert Tupita, Nicoleta Bouchard, Stéphane Mocanu, Veronica affil: Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 700588 Iasi, Romania sug: subj: Stress, Psychological Complications Eating Behavior Evaluation Craving Evaluation Grocery Stores Virtual Reality Task Performance and Analysis In Adolescence Human Adolescence Heart Rate Evaluation Pretest-Posttest Design Portable Equipment Food Classification Visual Analog Scaling Repeated Measures Descriptive Statistics Clinical Assessment Tools Romania Schools, Secondary Male Female Questionnaires Exploratory Research One-Tailed Test Data Analysis Software Paired T-Tests Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test Linear Regression Analysis of Variance Post Hoc Analysis Emotions Funding Source Adolescent: 13-18 years Male Female ab: Background/Objectives: Acute stress is known to influence food-related motivation and decision-making, often promoting a preference for energy-dense, palatable foods. However, traditional laboratory paradigms have limited ecological validity. This study examined the relationship between stress-induced physiological changes, eating behavior traits, and food cravings using a virtual reality (VR) adaptation of the Trier Social Stress Test (VR-TSST) followed by a VR supermarket task in adolescents. Methods: Thirty-eight adolescents (mean age 15.8 ± 0.6 years) participated in the study. Physiological parameters (HR, QT, PQ intervals) were recorded pre- and post-stress using a portable ECG device (WIWE). Perceived stress and eating behavior traits were evaluated with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R21C), respectively. Immediately after the VR-TSST, participants performed a VR supermarket task in which they rated cravings for sweet, fatty, and healthy foods using visual analog scales (VAS). Paired-samples t-tests examined pre–post changes in physiological parameters, partial correlations explored associations between ECG responses and eating traits, and a 2 × 3 mixed-model Repeated Measures ANOVA assessed the effects of food type (sweet, fatty, healthy) and uncontrolled eating (UE) group (low vs. high) on post-stress cravings. Results: Acute stress induced significant increases in HR and QTc intervals (p < 0.01), confirming a robust physiological stress response. The ANOVA revealed a strong main effect of food type (F(1.93, 435.41) = 168.98, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.43), indicating that stress-induced cravings differed across food categories, with sweet foods rated highest. A significant food type × UE group interaction (F(1.93, 435.41) = 16.49, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.07) showed that adolescents with high UE exhibited greater cravings for sweet and fatty foods than those with low UE. Overall, craving levels did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that acute stress selectively enhances cravings for high-reward foods, and that this effect is modulated by baseline uncontrolled eating tendencies. The combined use of VR-based stress induction and VR supermarket simulation offers an innovative, ecologically valid framework for studying stress-related eating behavior in adolescents, with potential implications for personalized nutrition and the prevention of stress-induced overeating. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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