{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T05:00:34Z","timestamp":1787029234812,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"24","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,15]],"date-time":"2025-12-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765756800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Union","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1HARD\/4.1\/93"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1HARD\/4.1\/93"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Acute stress is known to influence food-related motivation and decision-making, often promoting a preference for energy-dense, palatable foods. However, traditional laboratory paradigms have limited ecological validity. This study examined the relationship between stress-induced physiological changes, eating behavior traits, and food cravings using a virtual reality (VR) adaptation of the Trier Social Stress Test (VR-TSST) followed by a VR supermarket task in adolescents. Methods: Thirty-eight adolescents (mean age 15.8 \u00b1 0.6 years) participated in the study. Physiological parameters (HR, QT, PQ intervals) were recorded pre- and post-stress using a portable ECG device (WIWE). Perceived stress and eating behavior traits were evaluated with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R21C), respectively. Immediately after the VR-TSST, participants performed a VR supermarket task in which they rated cravings for sweet, fatty, and healthy foods using visual analog scales (VAS). Paired-samples t-tests examined pre\u2013post changes in physiological parameters, partial correlations explored associations between ECG responses and eating traits, and a 2 \u00d7 3 mixed-model Repeated Measures ANOVA assessed the effects of food type (sweet, fatty, healthy) and uncontrolled eating (UE) group (low vs. high) on post-stress cravings. Results: Acute stress induced significant increases in HR and QTc intervals (p &lt; 0.01), confirming a robust physiological stress response. The ANOVA revealed a strong main effect of food type (F(1.93, 435.41) = 168.98, p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72p = 0.43), indicating that stress-induced cravings differed across food categories, with sweet foods rated highest. A significant food type \u00d7 UE group interaction (F(1.93, 435.41) = 16.49, p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72p = 0.07) showed that adolescents with high UE exhibited greater cravings for sweet and fatty foods than those with low UE. Overall, craving levels did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that acute stress selectively enhances cravings for high-reward foods, and that this effect is modulated by baseline uncontrolled eating tendencies. The combined use of VR-based stress induction and VR supermarket simulation offers an innovative, ecologically valid framework for studying stress-related eating behavior in adolescents, with potential implications for personalized nutrition and the prevention of stress-induced overeating.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu17243924","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,15]],"date-time":"2025-12-15T15:15:08Z","timestamp":1765811708000},"page":"3924","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Virtual Reality Trier Social Stress and Virtual Supermarket Exposure: Electrocardiogram Correlates of Food Craving and Eating Traits in Adolescents"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-7088-3971","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristiana Amalia","family":"Onita","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 700588 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4609-7288","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniela-Viorelia","family":"Matei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 700588 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elena","family":"Chelarasu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Computer Science Department, Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Ia\u015fi, 700050 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2494-1070","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Robert Gabriel","family":"Lupu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Computer Science Department, Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Ia\u015fi, 700050 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Diana","family":"Petrescu-Miron","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 700588 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9664-7527","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anatolie","family":"Visnevschi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, \u201cNicolae Testemitanu\u201d State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 165, Bd. Stefan cel Mare si Sfant, MD-2004 Chisinau, Moldova"},{"name":"Research Center of Adipose Tissue Biology, \u201cNicolae Testemitanu\u201d State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 165, Bd. Stefan cel Mare si Sfant, MD-2004 Chisinau, Moldova"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0377-9131","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stela","family":"Vudu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center of Adipose Tissue Biology, \u201cNicolae Testemitanu\u201d State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 165, Bd. Stefan cel Mare si Sfant, MD-2004 Chisinau, Moldova"},{"name":"Department of Endocrinology, \u201cNicolae Testemitanu\u201d State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 165, Bd. Stefan cel Mare si Sfant, MD-2004 Chisinau, Moldova"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0641-8323","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Calin","family":"Corciova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 700588 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7067-7701","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Robert","family":"Fuior","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 700588 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicoleta","family":"Tupita","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Romanian Rugby Federation, 011468 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5995-340X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"St\u00e9phane","family":"Bouchard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement de Psychologie et de Psycho\u00e9ducation, Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec en Outaouais, Gatineau, QC J8X 3X7, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9330-1691","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Veronica","family":"Mocanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Grigore T. 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