A Virtual Reality (VR) Intervention for Promoting Prosocial Behavior and Well-being in Youth Transitioning From Secondary to Tertiary Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Prosocial identity

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Internalization subscale of the Self Importance of Moral Identity Scale (SIMIS) will be adapted to assess the prosocial identity. Each item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Higher scores indicate a higher level of Prosocial identity.

Life satisfaction

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) will be used to measure life satisfaction. Each item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree. Higher scores indicate higher levels of life satisfaction.

Flourishing

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Flourishing Scale (FS) will be used to measure flourishing. Each statement is answered using a 7-point Likert scale (7 - strongly agree to 1 - strongly). Higher scores indicate a higher level of flourishing.

Prosocial attitudes

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

Three items of prosocial attitudes will be revised from the Prosocial Orientation Questionnaire. Each item will be rated on a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Higher scores indicate more positive prosocial attitudes.

Diary measures

Time Frame: Daily monitoring for four weeks during the intervention

State prosocial behavior outcomes and well-being outcomes will be measured.

Prosocial intention

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Prosocial Behavioral Intentions Scale (PBIS) will be used to assess people's intentions to behave prosocially in the future. Each item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging 1 (Definitely would not do this) to 7 (Definitely would do this). Higher scores indicate a higher level of prosocial intention.

Altruism

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

Two items from Preference Survey Module (PSM) will be adapted to assess altruism. For example, one item is: "Imagine the following situation: you won 1,000 Euro in a lottery. Considering your current situation, how much would you donate to charity? (Values between 0 and 1000 are allowed)". Elevated scores on this item reflect a greater degree of altruistic.

Subjective happiness

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) will be used to measure participants' subjective happiness. Each item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate a higher level of subjective happiness.

Prosocial behavior

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Prosocialness Scale for Adults (PSA) will be used to measure prosocial behavior. Each item will be rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (never/almost never true) to 5 (almost always/always true). Higher scores indicate a higher level of prosocial behavior.

Attitudes toward helping others

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Attitudes toward helping others scale (AHO) will be used to test attitudes towards helping others. Each item will be rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Higher scores indicate more positive attitudes toward helping others.

Online prosocial behavior

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Online Prosocial Behavior Scale (OPBS) will be used to measure online prosocial behavior. Each item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging 1 (never) to 7 (always). Higher scores indicate a higher level of online prosocial behavior.

Empathy

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Single Item Trait Empathy Scale (SITES) will be used to measure empathy. This item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), with a higher score indicates a higher level of empathy.

Mental health

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) will be used to measure mental health. Each item will be rated on a 4-point Likert scale: "0" for "not at all," "1" for "several days," "2" for "more than half the days," and "3" for "nearly every day." Higher scores suggest a higher likelihood of experiencing significant depression and anxiety symptoms.

Self-esteem

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSE) will be used to measure self-esteem. Each item will be rated on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 4(strongly disagree). Higher scores indicate higher levels of self-esteem.

Affect

Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention); immediately after the intervention (post-intervention); 1 month after intervention (follow-up)

The Emmons Mood Indicator will used to measure affect. it measures two dimensions: Positive Affect and Negative Affect. Each item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely). Higher scores indicate a higher level of affect.