Virtual Reality–enhanced training for trauma-informed care among residential and child mental health professionals: Pre-post evaluation study

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorKostadinov, Kostadin
dc.contributor.authorGoodwin, John
dc.contributor.authorGroen, Gunter
dc.contributor.authorJörns‑Presentati, Astrid
dc.contributor.authorHeffernan, Sinéad
dc.contributor.authorO’Donovan, Áine
dc.contributor.authorO’Malley, Maria
dc.contributor.authorGoulding, Ryan Biskupovic
dc.contributor.authorO’Mahony, James
dc.contributor.authorAllen, Stephanie
dc.contributor.authorCurtin, Margaret
dc.contributor.authorHaapalainen, Satu
dc.contributor.authorAho, Jami
dc.contributor.authorPetrova, Gergana
dc.contributor.authorIvanova, Svetla
dc.contributor.authorLalova, Valentina
dc.contributor.authorKorhonen, Joonas
dc.contributor.funderErasmus +
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-06T15:50:05Z
dc.date.available2026-07-06T15:50:05Z
dc.date.issued2026-04-17
dc.description.abstractBackground: Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a framework that embeds safety, trust, choice, collaboration, and empowerment into practice. Although training improves TIC attitudes, implementation in European residential child and adolescent settings remains inconsistent, and immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) are underevaluated for this purpose. Objective: This study aims to evaluate whether a VR-enhanced training program improves TIC attitudes among staff and trainees in residential child and adolescent care across European sites and to examine site-level heterogeneity. Methods: We conducted a multisite pre-post evaluation within the European Union–co-funded Safe4Child project. Participants completed a standardized online TIC module followed by a mentor-facilitated VR simulation. Attitudes were measured using the ARTIC-10 (10-item version of the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care; 7-point) scale immediately before the online module and immediately after the VR simulation; the design, therefore, evaluates the combined program rather than VR in isolation. Analyses included Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, multivariable regression, and Bayesian models with skeptical priors. Results: Among 79 matched participants from Bulgaria, Finland, and Germany, mean (SD) ARTIC-10 scores increased from 5.33 (1.05) to 5.57 (1.20; P<.001; Cohen d=0.22). Effects varied by site. Germany showed significant improvement (Cohen d=0.56), whereas Bulgaria and Finland did not reach significance. Bayesian estimation yielded a mean change of 0.24 points (95% CI 0.11‐0.37) with P (Δ>0) ≈ 1.00. Prior trauma-related training showed a probable but uncertain additional benefit. Conclusions: The VR-enhanced TIC program produced a small overall improvement in attitudes, with a moderate effect in Germany, suggesting that immersive training can strengthen TIC learning when aligned with local contexts. The absence of a control group precludes attributing effects specifically to VR. Larger comparative trials are needed to determine whether VR confers advantages over conventional training approaches.en
dc.description.sponsorshipErasmus+|KA220-HED|Cooperation Partnerships in Higher Education
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.extent16
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleide86543
dc.identifier.authororcidKostadinov, Kostadin
dc.identifier.authororcidGoodwin, John§0000-0002-2044-1861
dc.identifier.authororcidGroen, Gunter
dc.identifier.authororcidJörns‑Presentati, Astrid
dc.identifier.authororcidHeffernan, Sinéad
dc.identifier.authororcidO’Donovan, Áine§0000-0001-6377-4140
dc.identifier.authororcidO’Malley, Maria§0000-0002-0495-8588
dc.identifier.authororcidGoulding, Ryan Biskupovic§0000-0001-8121-5393
dc.identifier.authororcidO’Mahony, James§0000-0002-7101-7016
dc.identifier.authororcidAllen, Stephanie
dc.identifier.authororcidCurtin, Margaret§0000-0002-1996-0656
dc.identifier.authororcidHaapalainen, Satu
dc.identifier.authororcidAho, Jami
dc.identifier.authororcidPetrova, Gergana
dc.identifier.authororcidIvanova, Svetla
dc.identifier.authororcidLalova, Valentina
dc.identifier.authororcidKorhonen, Joonas
dc.identifier.citationKostadinov, K, Goodwin, J, Groen, G, Jörns‑Presentati, A, Heffernan, S, O’Donovan, Á, O’Malley, M, Goulding, R B, O’Mahony, J, Allen, S, Curtin, M, Haapalainen, S, Aho, J, Petrova, G, Ivanova, S, Lalova, V & Korhonen, J 2026, 'Virtual Reality–enhanced training for trauma-informed care among residential and child mental health professionals: Pre-post evaluation study', JMIR Medical Education, vol. 12, e86543, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.2196/86543
dc.identifier.doi10.2196/86543
dc.identifier.endpage16
dc.identifier.issn2369-3762
dc.identifier.journaltitleJMIR Medical Education
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-2044-1861/work/207548567
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0001-8121-5393/work/219866782
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-0495-8588/work/219866891
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-1996-0656/work/219867047
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-7101-7016/work/219867258
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0001-6377-4140/work/219868480
dc.identifier.startpage1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/19002
dc.identifier.volume12
dc.language.isound
dc.publisherJMIR Publications Inc.
dc.relation.urihttps://doi.org/10.2196/86543
dc.rights© 2026, Kostadin Kostadinov, John Goodwin, Gunter Groen, Astrid Jörns‑Presentati, Sinéad Heffernan, Áine O’Donovan, Maria O’Malley, Ryan Biskupovic Goulding, James O’Mahony, Stephanie Allen, Margaret Curtin, Satu Haapalainen, Jami Aho, Gergana Petrova, Svetla Ivanova, Valentina Lalova, Joonas Korhonen. Originally published in JMIR Medical Education (https://mededu.jmir.org), 17.Apr.2026. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Medical Education, is properly cited.
dc.rights.accessrightsopen access
dc.rights.licensenameAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectChild welfare
dc.subjectProfessional education
dc.subjectResidential care
dc.subjectTrauma-informed care
dc.subjectVirtual reality
dc.subject[NursingMidwifery]
dc.titleVirtual Reality–enhanced training for trauma-informed care among residential and child mental health professionals: Pre-post evaluation study
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
mededu-2026-1-e86543.pdf
Size:
768.01 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Collections
School of Nursing and Midwifery