Poppelaars Marlou, Lichtwarck-Aschoff Anna, Otten Roy, Granic Isabela
Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Research and Development, Pluryn, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Front Psychol. 2021 Jan 12;11:575962. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.575962. eCollection 2020.
Depressive symptoms and disorders are major public health concerns, affecting many adolescents and young adults. Despite extensive research, depression prevention programs for youth show limited effectiveness. Moreover, the maximal potential of youth psychotherapy - on which depression prevention programs are based - may have been reached. Commercial video games may offer an engaging alternative vehicle for youth to practice emotional and social skills vital to mental health. The current study investigated the potential for the commercial video game Journey to prevent the exacerbation of depressive symptoms. A pre-registered randomized controlled trial tested the effectiveness of Journey as an indicated depression prevention approach compared to a control game condition and a passive control condition (Dutch Trial Register: NL4873, https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/4873). Additionally, potential action mechanisms for depression prevention using video games were examined. Participants aged 15 to 20 years old with elevated depressive symptoms ( = 244, = 17.11, = 1.76, 66.4% female) were given 4 weeks to play Journey ( = 3 h 20 min) or the control game, Flower ( = 2 h 36 min). Results showed no beneficial effects of playing the commercial video game, Journey, on youth's change in depressive symptoms above and beyond the active and passive control conditions up to 12-months after the intervention. Additionally, no action mechanisms were found specifically for Journey. Nevertheless, over the whole study, participants decreased in depressive symptoms, became less sensitive to rejection, and experienced more hope and optimism. Moreover, participants who during the study decreased in rejection sensitivity or rumination or who increased in hope and optimism or in distraction and problem solving showed the strongest decrease in depressive symptoms. Although results do not support the use of the studied commercial game as an effective indicated depression prevention strategy, our results do suggest that rejection sensitivity, hope, optimism, rumination, distraction, and problem solving are promising targets for future depression prevention efforts. We conclude with important lessons for future research on games to promote mental health. Particularly, encouraging careful consideration of research designs to explore for whom and how potential action mechanisms and associated game mechanics may be effective.
抑郁症状和障碍是重大的公共卫生问题，影响着许多青少年和青年。尽管进行了广泛研究，但针对青少年的抑郁症预防项目效果有限。此外，抑郁症预防项目所基于的青少年心理治疗的最大潜力可能已被挖掘殆尽。商业电子游戏或许能为青少年提供一种引人入胜的途径，让他们去练习对心理健康至关重要的情感和社交技能。本研究调查了商业电子游戏《风之旅人》预防抑郁症状加重的潜力。一项预先注册的随机对照试验测试了《风之旅人》作为一种针对性抑郁症预防方法的有效性，并与一款对照游戏和一个被动对照条件进行了比较（荷兰试验注册：NL4873，https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/4873）。此外，还研究了使用电子游戏预防抑郁症的潜在作用机制。对年龄在15至20岁、抑郁症状有所加重的参与者（n = 244，M = 17.11，SD = 1.76，66.4%为女性）给予4周时间来玩《风之旅人》（M = 3小时20分钟）或对照游戏《花》（M = 2小时36分钟）。结果显示，在干预后长达12个月的时间里，玩商业电子游戏《风之旅人》对青少年抑郁症状的改善并没有比主动和被动对照条件产生更多有益效果。此外，未发现专门针对《风之旅人》的作用机制。然而，在整个研究过程中，参与者的抑郁症状有所减轻，对拒绝的敏感度降低，并且体验到了更多的希望和乐观情绪。此外，在研究过程中拒绝敏感度或沉思减少，或者希望、乐观情绪、注意力分散及解决问题能力增强的参与者，其抑郁症状减轻最为明显。虽然结果并不支持将所研究的商业游戏用作一种有效的针对性抑郁症预防策略，但我们的结果确实表明，拒绝敏感度、希望、乐观情绪、沉思、注意力分散和解决问题能力是未来抑郁症预防工作有前景的目标。我们最后总结了未来促进心理健康的游戏研究的重要经验教训。特别是，鼓励仔细考虑研究设计，以探索潜在作用机制和相关游戏机制对谁以及如何可能有效。
