What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to determine the effectiveness of a tailored VR session in improving social skills among children in special education.

March 13, 2026

Improving Children's Social Skills With Virtual Reality: A Tailored Single-Session Training in Special Education.

Key Points

This research aims to determine the effectiveness of a tailored VR session in improving social skills among children in special education.
Conducted a within-child study with 49 children aged 7-13 in special education programs.
Implemented a single 20-minute VR session focused on specific skills chosen by teachers.
Skills included anger regulation, peer entry, and assertiveness, observed during the VR session.
Significant immediate improvements in targeted social skills were observed in VR sessions.
No significant improvements were reported by teachers in the classroom two weeks post-training.
Teachers noted no changes in aggressive behavior or emotional problems after the VR session.

Abstract

This within-child study examined whether a tailored, single-session virtual reality (VR) training can enhance social skills among children enrolled in special education programs for behavior problems. Forty-nine children (ages 7-13; 85.7% boys; 57.1% ASD, 20.4% ADHD) completed one 20-min VR session. For each child, teachers selected one skill for children to practice with: staying calm (anger regulation), asking to join a group (peer entry), or saying no (assertiveness). Relative to baseline, in-VR observations showed substantial immediate improvements of the targeted skill (η2p = .35), but teacher reports two weeks later showed no comparable improvement in the classroom (η2p = .07). Teachers also reported no changes in children's aggressive behavior or emotional problems two weeks later. Children reported moderate levels of immersion and perceived efficacy, low-to-moderate emotional engagement, and high appreciation of the training, VR, and trainer-child relationship. Overall, findings suggest that interactive VR is an attractive tool to practice socially skilled behavior, but that transfer to real life may require more sessions, explicit bridging strategies, and/or more emotionally engaging VR.

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