Virtual triggers real reactions – Using VR to assess youth violence

To improve assessment in forensic youth care, a virtual reality (VR) task was developed to assess behavior without the limitations associated with traditional self-report instruments. The aim of the current study was to examine the potential of this task to assess aggression and its origins, with a focus on hostile intent attribution and low self-control, and its predictive validity in explaining violent infractions during the stay in a juvenile detention facility. Participants were juveniles (N = 84; aged 15–23) residing at two all-boys Juvenile Detention Centers in the Netherlands. Responses to four social VR scenarios were observed and, to assess the role of hostile intent attribution (HIA) and low self-control in aggressive responses in these scenarios, participants answered scenario-specific questions about their emotions, thoughts, and motives immediately after each scenario. In addition, self-report questionnaires were used to assess aggression, HIA and self-control. Two months after participation, violent institutional infractions were retrieved from casefiles. Results showed that particularly the more provocative and emotionally engaging scenarios have the potential to elicit aggressive responses. Overall, VR responses and self-report questionnaires showed little convergence, which could not be explained by social desirability nor variation in VR engagement and immersion. Violent institutional infractions were predicted by reactive aggression and low self-control in one of the four scenarios. Concluding, despite little convergence between VR and self-report questionnaires, VR assessment provides potential important information about future violence, which makes it worthwhile to further experiment with and study VR assessment in forensic youth care.