School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Bielefeld, Germany.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Jan 2;24(1):69. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-17517-3.
Though still a young field of research, gamified digital interventions have demonstrated potential in exerting a favourable impact on health and overall well-being. With the increasing use of the internet and digital devices, the integration of game elements presents novel opportunities for preventing mental disorders and enhancing mental health. Hence, this review aims to assess the effectiveness of gamified interventions focusing on preventing mental disorders or promoting mental health among adults.
Based on a scoping review across four databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo and Web of Science), 7,953 studies were initially identified. After removing duplicates and screening titles, abstracts and full texts, 16 studies were identified as suitable for inclusion in a narrative synthesis of findings. We included interventional studies encompassing an intervention and a control group aiming to investigate the effectiveness of the use of gamified digital mental health interventions and the use of gamified digital elements.
Overall, positive effects of gamified interventions on mental health-related outcomes were identified. In particular, beneficial consequences for psychological well-being and depressive symptoms were observed in all studies. However, further outcomes, such as resilience, anxiety, stress or satisfaction with life, showed heterogenous findings. Most game elements used were reward, sensation and progress, whilst the quantity of elements was not consistent and, therefore, no substantiated conclusion regarding the (optimal) quantity or composition of game elements can be drawn. Further, the outcomes, measurements and analyses differed greatly between the 16 included studies making comparisons difficult.
In summary, this review demonstrates the potential of integrating digital game elements on mental health and well-being with still a great gap of research. A taxonomy is needed to adequately address relevant game elements in the field of mental health promotion and prevention of mental disorders. Therefore, future studies should explicitly focus on the mechanisms of effect and apply rigorous study designs.
尽管仍是一个年轻的研究领域，但游戏化数字干预措施已显示出对健康和整体幸福感产生有利影响的潜力。随着互联网和数字设备的广泛应用，整合游戏元素为预防精神障碍和促进心理健康提供了新的机会。因此，本综述旨在评估针对预防成年人精神障碍或促进其心理健康的游戏化干预措施的有效性。
本研究通过在四个数据库（MEDLINE、Embase、PsycInfo 和 Web of Science）进行范围界定式综述，共初步确定了 7953 项研究。在去除重复项并筛选标题、摘要和全文后，确定了 16 项适合纳入研究结果的叙述性综合分析的研究。我们纳入了包含干预组和对照组的干预研究，旨在调查使用游戏化数字心理健康干预措施和使用游戏化数字元素的有效性。
总体而言，游戏化干预对心理健康相关结果具有积极影响。特别是，所有研究都观察到了对心理幸福感和抑郁症状的有益影响。然而，进一步的结果，如韧性、焦虑、压力或生活满意度，结果存在差异。使用的大多数游戏元素是奖励、感觉和进度，而元素的数量不一致，因此无法得出关于游戏元素（最佳）数量或组成的明确结论。此外，16 项纳入研究的结果、测量和分析差异很大，使得比较变得困难。
总的来说，本综述表明将数字游戏元素整合到心理健康和幸福感中的潜力很大，但仍有很大的研究空白。需要一个分类法来充分解决心理健康促进和预防精神障碍领域的相关游戏元素。因此，未来的研究应明确关注作用机制，并应用严格的研究设计。
