Exploring visual representations of safety in virtual relaxation content: a correlational study

BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders, yet only about a quarter of affected individuals receive treatment. This necessitates the development of high-technology care approaches, including virtual reality. AIM: To analyze mental imagery associated with psychological safety and inner comfort to optimize the selection of relaxation content for virtual reality. METHODS: Participants completed standardized questionnaires: the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, the Well-being, Activity, Mood questionnaire, and a Safe Place interview. Statistical analysis included significance testing and one-way analysis of variance. Descriptions of safe places underwent qualitative analysis to identify the frequency of key semantic categories. Age was negatively correlated with overall stress levels and positively correlated with emotional well-being. The highest stress levels were in the 18-39 age group. For safe place imagery, most descriptions (68.2%) were of natural landscapes, followed by urban motifs (22.9%); intrapsychic and spiritual symbols accounted for 8.9%. Within natural landscapes, water-related images were most frequent (39.5%). The image of a confined personal space was 2.4 times more common in participants aged 50 years and older. CONCLUSION: The highest distress levels were observed in individuals under 40, indicating a greater need for relaxation interventions. Across all age groups, images of water associated with a safe place, while participants aged 50 years and older more frequently preferred personal spaces. The identified semantic categories can form a basis for thematic catalogs in virtual relaxation libraries.