Exploring digitally gamified therapies for anxiety

Abstract

Digital technologies are emerging as tools that can extend, or can be an alternative to, classical clinical therapies. In particular, the so-called digital mental health interventions (DMHI) are showing promise for the effective treatment of mental disorders, including depression and anxiety. Among these, the use of serious games for therapy (often referred to as digital gaming interventions) has been identified as a promising avenue. Yet, their effectiveness as therapeutic tools requires further investigation. In this thesis, I investigate the usefulness and effectiveness of serious games as tools for treating chronic mental health conditions, specifically anxiety (i.e general anxiety disorder (GAD)). The serious game I use in this thesis was developed in collaboration with clinicians who possess expertise in the treatment of anxiety, by using digital technologies with a participatory design approach. Using a mixed-method approach, I then tested the game for effectiveness as a tool for the clinical treatment of anxiety with 30 participants. The results show that individuals who received treatment using gamified therapy showed significantly lower levels of anxiety compared to individuals who did not receive the treatment. The population sample also showed a relatively high level of need and potential for acceptance of the treatment. This thesis contributes to the body of evidence indicating the validity of gamified therapies as treatments for mental health conditions like anxiety and understanding the nature of participants subjective experiences when engaging with the treatment while also identifying therapeutic factors that contributed to the effect of the treatment--Author's abstract