Virtual Reality Applied to Burnout Syndrome with a Future Research Agenda.
Description
Given the severe socioeconomic impact of burnout syndrome, virtual reality emerges as a promising behavioral intervention. However, scientific literature remains fragmented regarding its theoretical foundations, causal mechanisms, and practical integration into workplace workflows. With the aim of analyzing the application of Virtual Reality in the management of burnout syndrome, this systematic literature review was structured using the TCM-ADO framework (Theories, Contexts, Methods – Antecedents, Determinants, Outcomes), critically analyzed a corpus of 28 articles (n =28) indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed, structured under the process, transparency, and methodological quality of PRISMA guidelines. To clarify the theoretical structures, the TCM-ADO dimensions were subjected to deductive coding and concept-matrix mapping. Drawing upon the lens of Kernel Theories from a socio-technical perspective, the corpus was interpreted through Human-Computer Interaction and Behavioral Intervention Technology principles.
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To ensure comprehensive interdisciplinary coverage and methodological rigor in this review, the Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and PubMed databases were selected (Falagas et al., 2008; Gusenbauer & Haddaway, 2020; Mongeon & Paul-Hus, 2016). Together, they contain millions of publications and, through their rigorous indexing of high-impact journals, ensure the clinical validity necessary to analyze the BS and provide comprehensive coverage in the fields of HCI and immersive technologies (Falagas et al., 2008; Mongeon & Paul-Hus, 2016). The selection of these databases reflects the inherently interdisciplinary nature of this review, as the thematic diversity of the journals reduces the risk of selection bias and underrepresentation of research fields (Martín-Martín et al., 2021). The first step (identification) used a search string that included variations of words derived from a selection of keywords based on the literature, such as “virtual reality” (Robbemond et al., 2025; Shankar et al., 2025), “extended reality” (Riches, Bartlett, et al., 2024), “virtual environment”(Emamjomeh et al., 2020), “immersive environment” (Paetow et al., 2025), “burnout syndrome” (Quesada-Puga et al., 2024; Vacheron et al., 2025), “professional burnout” (García-Iglesias et al., 2025), “occupational burnout” (Backović et al., 2025) e “work exhaustion” (Rutner et al., 2008). Wildcards were used to broaden the search, which was conducted on October 11, 2025, analyzing the title, abstract, and keywords. The use of Boolean operators enabled a more in-depth and precise search, yielding 380 articles from Scopus, 460 from WoS, and 198 from PubMed. Articles that appeared in multiple databases, as well as literature reviews, conference proceedings, and editorial notes, were immediately excluded, resulting in a total of 304 identified articles. In the second stage (screening), the 304 identified articles were independently evaluated by two reviewers based on title, abstract, and keyword screening. Discrepancies were resolved through discussion until consensus was reached. There was consensus on the exclusion of 244 articles because they addressed general symptoms or causes of BS or focused on broad resilience interventions (LaDonna et al., 2022) , leaving 60 articles for detailed eligibility assessment. In the third phase (eligibility), the remaining 60 articles underwent full-text assessment. Of these, 32 studies were excluded because they focused broadly on mental health, deviating from the core objective of applying virtual reality (VR) to BS management(Contreras et al., 2022; Faria et al., 2025). This resulted in the final corpus of 28 articles (n = 28), 57% of which were published between 2019 and 2023, and 43% between 2024 and 2025.