Background: Anxiety among university students has become increasingly prominent in higher education settings, adversely affecting not only their academic performance but also their overall mental health. While medication and psychological interventions can help alleviate anxiety to some extent, it is crucial for this particular group to find more convenient, easily accepted non-pharmacological approaches. Art therapy, especially hands-on creative activities, is considered an effective means of regulating anxiety, yet research on virtual reality (VR) sculpting remains relatively scarce.

Objective: This paper aims to investigate the therapeutic effects of VR sculpting on college students' anxiety levels and assess its impact on psychological well-being and physiological relaxation, as measured by heart rate variability (HRV).

Methods: The study recruited 30 undergraduates, evaluating their anxiety levels via the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), psychological well-being via the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and physiological relaxation via HRV. Subsequently, we monitored how VR-based artistic sculpting influenced changes in GAD-7, PANAS, and HRV scores.

Results: Comparing the data before and after the art-based intervention revealed a significant decrease in participants' GAD-7 scores, a substantial rise in PANAS scores indicating enhanced psychological well-being (p < 0.05), and a marked increase in HRV, suggesting VR sculpting can promote physiological relaxation. Qualitative interviews further showed that most participants experienced strong focus and emotional release during the VR sculpting process.

Conclusion: As a non-pharmacological art therapy method, VR sculpting demonstrates a notably positive effect on reducing anxiety and improving mental well-being among university students. This study provides compelling evidence for using art therapy to address mental health issues in a college environment. Future research should consider longer intervention periods and more varied measures to further investigate the long-term effectiveness and broader applicability of this approach.

Keywords: anxiety reduction; art classes; art therapy intervention; higher education; virtual reality sculpting.

Copyright © 2025 Ding, Lin, Xu, Shang and Han.

背景：

大学学生的焦虑在高等教育环境中变得越来越突出，不仅影响他们的学业表现，还损害了他们的整体心理健康。虽然药物和心理干预可以在一定程度上缓解焦虑，但对于这一特定群体来说，寻找更为便捷且易于接受的非药物方法至关重要。艺术疗法，尤其是动手创作活动，被认为是一种有效的调节焦虑手段，然而关于虚拟现实（VR）雕塑的研究相对较少。

目的：

本文旨在研究虚拟现实雕刻对大学生焦虑水平的影响，并评估其在心理福祉和生理放松方面的效果，通过心率变异度（HRV）进行测量。

方法：

本研究招募了30名本科生，利用广泛性焦虑障碍量表（GAD-7）评估他们的焦虑水平，使用积极与消极情感量表（PANAS）评估心理福祉，并通过心率变异度（HRV）评估生理放松情况。随后，我们监测了基于VR的艺术雕塑如何影响GAD-7、PANAS和HRV评分的变化。

结果：

对比艺术干预前后的数据发现，参与者的GAD-7评分显著降低，PANAS评分大幅上升，表明心理福祉有所提升（p

结论：

作为一种非药物的艺术疗法手段，虚拟现实雕刻对减少大学生的焦虑以及改善心理健康具有显著积极的效果。本研究为使用艺术疗法解决大学环境中的心理健康问题提供了有力证据。未来的研究应考虑更长的干预期和更多样化的测量方法，进一步探讨这种方法的长期效果及更广泛的应用。

关键词：

焦虑减轻；美术课程；艺术疗法干预；高等教育；虚拟现实雕刻。

版权 © 2025 Ding, Lin, Xu, Shang 和 Han。