Clinical Research Directory

Effects of VR Tai Chi Intervention on Physical Fitness, Anxiety, Depression and Stress Among College Students in Henan, China

Sponsor: Xin Liu

Summary

Research indicates a substantial increase in the rates of anxiety, depression and stress among college students (Roy, Biswas, \& Sharma, 2025). These symptoms significantly are related to poor physical health, low quality of life, poor academic performance, poor relationships, and future opportunities (Man, Li, Lin, Yu-Chi, \& Chan, 2025; Roy et al., 2025). Meanwhile, physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyles often result in declined physical fitness (S. Cai et al., 2025; R. X. Li et al., 2025). Chinese college students face increasingly serious physical and mental health problems. Therefore, this population is highly relevant and meaningful for health intervention research. Tai Chi has a unique effect in promoting physical and mental health. Studies have shown that Tai Chi exercise can promote heart and lung function, improve body composition, enhance muscle strength and endurance, increase flexibility and balance ability (Easwaran et al., 2021; Guo et al., 2016), reduce stress levels, and alleviate psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression, benefiting physical, emotional and social functions (Q. Cai et al., 2022). However, most existing studies focus on the effects of Tai Chi on the physical and mental health of middle-aged, elderly, and chronically ill populations (Chen, Hunt, Campbell, Peill, \& Reid, 2016; Qi et al., 2023; Zeng et al., 2023). Empirical evidence for its intervention effects among college students is limited (Qi, Soh, Nasirudddin, \& Mai, 2022), especially from randomized controlled trials, and evidence on the brain mechanisms of such effects is gap (Jin, Chen, \& Zhang, 2026). And, Tai Chi is a complex form of exercise, and it is difficult for beginners to master it completely and to stick to it ( Wang, J., \& Zhang, Y. C. , 2023). Its health benefits are also hard to be manifested and maintained. Moreover, the slow and gentle movement patterns of Tai Chi make it difficult to attract college students to fully engage in the practice, leading students to gradually form a boring learning state and a learning method of mechanical memory in the learning process (Zhang, C. N.,\& Zhang, C. S, 2021; Zhang, Z.,2021), which affects the effectiveness of the Tai Chi intervention. Digital Tai Chi intervention has broad application potential. Related research indicates that VR technology application provides a flexible and novel way to promote traditional Tai Chi Health Intervention (Hong Liu, 2025). VR is a computer generated, lifelike virtual world that produces the sensation of immersion in the environment(Wong, Lai, \& Qin, 2023). Due to its ability to tightly control the virtual setting, VR interventions can be implemented precisely. Consistency of VR interventions is ensured because the virtual environment can be replicated exactly across multiple sessions, eliminating variations that might occur in real-world settings(Man et al., 2025). Therefore, applying VR technology to assist Tai Chi health interventions can create an immersive, virtual-real integrated learning experience, stimulate college students' learning motivation, enhance their mastery of Tai Chi movement details, reduce the tediousness of practice, and ultimately improve intervention adherence and effectiveness. Although VR Tai Chi intervention has broad application potential, current empirical studies on its intervention effects are still relatively limited, especially in terms of insufficient evidence for simultaneously improving physical fitness and mental health among college students. Therefore, research on VR based Tai Chi interventions for college students' physical and mental health remains limited at present. By integrating traditional Chinese Tai Chi practice with modern VR technology, this study expands the research scope in the intersection of modern information technology and sports science, and fills the gap in the research on the impact of VR Tai Chi intervention on the physical fitness and mental health of college students. The VR-TCI intervention model, provide a low-cost, highly accessible and culturally compatible intervention path for improving the physical fitness of college students and alleviating psychological problems. VR Tai Chi intervention, conforms to the national "modernization of traditional medicine" and "digital health development" strategies, and explores a digital solution for the physical and mental health of college students with Chinese cultural characteristics.

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