Using AI and virtual reality to revolutionize psychological education and mental health support systems

Mental health challenges have increased significantly in recent years, highlighting limitations in traditional psychology education methods, which primarily rely on lecture-based and non-interactive instructional approaches with limited personalization and real-time assessment. This study investigates the effectiveness of an integrated virtual reality (VR) environment combined with rule-based adaptive personalization for psychological education and mental health support. A total of 200 participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group using VR-based learning or a traditional learning group. Psychological knowledge, stress, anxiety, and engagement were assessed using validated instruments through pre-test and post-test evaluations. Statistical analyses, including t-tests, ANOVA, correlation, and regression, were conducted to examine differences and relationships among variables. The results showed that participants in the VR-based intervention achieved higher knowledge scores (3.51 ± 0.23), lower stress levels (2.47 ± 0.23), and higher engagement (3.50 ± 0.18) compared to the traditional group (2.51 ± 0.22, 3.47 ± 0.21, and 2.52 ± 0.21, respectively), with statistically significant differences (p < 0.001). These findings indicate that VR-supported learning with adaptive personalization is associated with improved educational and psychological outcomes under controlled conditions.