Labrosse David, Vié Clara, Harb Mireille, Montagni Ilaria
Tricky, Bordeaux, France.
Bordeaux Population Health U1219, Inserm, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Apr 2;14:e64068. doi: 10.2196/64068.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the protracted lockdowns have heavily impacted university students' mental health. Digital Escape Games represent a good means to reach students and propose them solutions for their psychological well-being.
This study aimed to evaluate a cocreated digital Escape Game on students' mental health in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, called EscapeCovid Game. The evaluation of the effectiveness of this stand-alone intervention concerns mental health outcomes (mental health literacy, appraisal and change of beliefs about mental health, management of emotions, and development of coping strategies) and the appreciation and relevance of the game.
A randomized controlled trial with pre- and posttest data collection (online questionnaires with validated scales) is conducted among 500 students in Bordeaux, France, to evaluate the EscapeCovid Game cocreated with students, researchers, health professionals, and web developers. A subsample of students is randomly selected for responding to a semistructured interview following a mixed methods design. Recruitment is done through mail invitations from student associations and presentations in university classes. Half of the sample of the trial plays the Escape Game, while the other half receives an email with mental health-related information. Within the game, students discuss their personal experiences. The text is further used for the qualitative analyses. The whole study is carried out online.
The EscapeCovid Game has been developed, tested, and finalized by the end of March 2023. As of November 4, 2024, a total of 191 students have answered the baseline questionnaire (90 intervention vs 101 control). A total of 23 students have played the game and 53 are in the control arm. Among participants, by the end of September 20, 2023, twenty were interviewed (10 intervention and 10 control) reaching sample saturation. According to preliminary results, the EscapeCovid Game has had a positive impact on all defined outcomes, while the email has been effective in increasing knowledge on resources available and on coping strategies and meditation techniques. We expect the trial to be completed by the end of June 2025.
The mixed methods findings of this study are due to demonstrate the effectiveness of the EscapeCovid Game in improving students' mental health outcomes. Preliminary results from the qualitative substudy are promising: in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, this intervention is intended to promote players' mental health through gamification, knowledge transfer, and a learning-by-doing approach.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06720792; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06720792.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/64068.
新冠疫情及长期封锁对大学生心理健康造成了严重影响。数字逃脱游戏是接触学生并为他们的心理健康提供解决方案的良好方式。
本研究旨在评估一款共同创作的数字逃脱游戏——“逃离新冠游戏”（EscapeCovid Game）对新冠疫情后学生心理健康的影响。对这一独立干预措施有效性的评估涉及心理健康结果（心理健康素养、对心理健康信念的评估与改变、情绪管理以及应对策略的发展）以及游戏的受欢迎程度和相关性。
在法国波尔多的500名学生中进行了一项前后测数据收集的随机对照试验（使用经过验证量表的在线问卷），以评估与学生、研究人员、健康专业人员和网页开发者共同创作的“逃离新冠游戏”。按照混合方法设计，随机抽取一部分学生进行半结构化访谈。通过学生协会的邮件邀请和在大学课堂上的展示进行招募。试验样本的一半玩逃脱游戏，另一半收到一封包含心理健康相关信息的电子邮件。在游戏中，学生们讨论他们的个人经历。这些文本进一步用于定性分析。整个研究在网上进行。
“逃离新冠游戏”已于2023年3月底开发、测试并最终完成。截至2024年11月4日，共有191名学生回答了基线问卷（90名干预组 vs 101名对照组）。共有23名学生玩了游戏，53名在对照组。在参与者中，截至2023年9月20日结束时，对20名学生进行了访谈（10名干预组和10名对照组）达到样本饱和。根据初步结果，“逃离新冠游戏”对所有定义的结果都产生了积极影响，而电子邮件在增加对可用资源以及应对策略和冥想技巧的了解方面有效。我们预计该试验将于2025年6月底完成。
本研究的混合方法研究结果将证明“逃离新冠游戏”在改善学生心理健康结果方面的有效性。定性子研究的初步结果很有前景：在新冠危机之后，这种干预旨在通过游戏化、知识转移和实践学习的方法促进玩家的心理健康。
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06720792；https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06720792。
国际注册报告标识符（IRRID）：DERR1-10.2196/64068。
