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Extreme Psychology and Personal Safety
2025. Vol. 2, no. 4, 150–162
doi:10.17759/epps.2025020410
ISSN: 3034-3666 (online)

Using the gestalt completion effect in virtual reality as a method of psychological prevention of suicidal risk in early adolescence

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. The relevance of this study is determined by several factors. Early adolescence is a period of intense personal changes and social interactions, accompanied by stress and emotional difficulties, which increases the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior. The digital environment also influences young adults. Along with the positive opportunities of modern technology, the digital environment can be dangerous and include online bullying, death groups, and other dangerous forms of interaction. The lack of accessible psychological resources for young people further exacerbates the problem. Taken together, this underscores the need for effective suicide prevention in early adolescence. Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness of using the effect of completing a suicidal act (life-threatening situation) in virtual reality for the psychological prevention of suicidal risk in students. Hypothesis. After playing out a life-threatening situation and death in virtual reality, suicidal thoughts and desires will disappear, as the potentially life-threatening situation has been, lived through. Methods and materials. The subjects were 30 young adults (aged 17—21). All respondents gave voluntary consent to participate in the study and were randomly, divided into 2 groups: the experimental group (15 people — 13 girls and 2 boys) and the control group (15 people — 12 girls and 3 boys). Methods: the Beck hopelessness scale (BHS), the Beck depression inventory (BDI), E.P. Ilyin's method for assessing auto and hetero-aggression, P.I. Yunatskevich's SL-19 “Suicidal Personality” questionnaire, Sagalakova's Anti-Vitality and Resilience Questionnaire (AVRQ) and D.V. Truevtsev's “Well-Being-Activity-Mood” (W-BAM) questionnaire. Mathematical statistics methods: descriptive statistics, comparative analysis (Wilcoxon T-test, Mann-Whitney U-test). Experimental intervention methods included VR simulators: Survivor VR, Richie's Plank Experience, Nature Treks VR. Results. After completing the experiment, participants' levels of depression and anxious rumination decreased at a significance level of 0,05, indicating a reduction in suicidal risk. Our hypothesis regarding the feasibility of using virtual reality technologies in the psychological prevention of suicide risk in early adolescence was partially confirmed, as some, although not all, indicators of suicide risk decreased. Conclusions. The effectiveness of using the gestalt completion technique (performing a life-threatening action in virtual reality) for suicidal risk prevention was confirmed. After completing the experiment, participants' levels of depression and anxious rumination decreased at a significance level of 0,05. A number of positive trends were observed, in particular, the “family conflict” indicator decreased, and resilience indicators (functional family, life satisfaction, positive image of the future) increased.

General Information

Keywords: VR technologies, virtual reality, psychological prevention, suicidal risk, early adolescences

Journal rubric: Psychological Assistance in Extreme Situations

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/epps.2025020410

Acknowledgements. The author thanks assistant of the virtual reality laboratory K.E. Buzanov and A.S. Tsvetkova, for assistance in conducting the experiment, and the scientific supervisor of the master's thesis, T.N. Berezina, for providing the basis for the empirical research.

Received 18.11.2025

Revised 20.11.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Avilova, A.I. (2025). Using the gestalt completion effect in virtual reality as a method of psychological prevention of suicidal risk in early adolescence. Extreme Psychology and Personal Safety, 2(4), 150–162. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/epps.2025020410

© Avilova A.I., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Anna-Maria I. Avilova, Practicing Psychologist, Trainee, State Budgetary Institution "My Family Center 'Dialogue'", Branch "Severny", Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3556-2546, e-mail: rozaroza98@rambler.ru

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of the State Budgetary Institution "My Family Center 'Dialogue'", Branch "Severny"(report no. 1, 2024/04/30).

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