Mental Health of Children and Teenagers May Improve Using Specially Designed Videogames: JAMA
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In a review of previous studies, a Johns Hopkins Children's Center team concludes that some video games created as mental health interventions can be helpful – if modest – tools in improving the mental well-being of children and teens with anxiety, depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
A report on the review of studies from peer-reviewed journals between 2011 and March 20, 2024, was published in JAMA Pediatrics.
“We found literature that suggests that even doubling the number of pediatric mental health providers still wouldn’t meet the need,” says Barry Bryant, M.D., a resident in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and first author of the new study.
In a bid to determine if so-called “gamified digital mental health interventions,” or video games designed to treat mental health conditions, benefited those with anxiety, depression and ADHD, the research team analyzed their use in randomized clinical trials for children and adolescents.
Bryant and child and adolescent psychologist Joseph McGuire, Ph.D., identified 27 such trials from the U.S. and around the world. The studies overall included 2,911 participants with about half being boys and half being girls, between the ages of six and 17 years old.
The digital mental health interventions varied in content, but were all created with the intent of treating ADHD, depression and anxiety. All games were conducted on technology platforms, such as computers, tablets, video game consoles and smartphones. The video games are available to users in a variety of ways — some are available online, while others required access through specific research teams involved in the studies.
Outcome measurements varied depending on the study. However, the Johns Hopkins research team was able to standardize effect sizes using a random-effects model so that a positive result indicated when interventions performed better than control conditions. Hedges g, a statistic used to measure effect size, was used to quantify treatment effects overall in the studies reviewed.
The research team’s analysis found that video games designed for patients with ADHD and depression provided a modest reduction in symptoms related to ADHD and depression, such as improved ability to sustain attention and decreased sadness, based on participant and family feedback from the studies. By contrast, video games designed for anxiety did not show meaningful benefits for reducing anxiety symptoms for participants, based on participant and family feedback.
Researchers also examined factors that led to improved benefit from digital mental health interventions. Specific factors related to video game delivery and participants (i.e., studies that involved more boys) were found to positively influence therapeutic effects.
“While the benefits are still modest, our research shows that we have some novel tools to help improve children’s mental health — particularly for ADHD and depression — that can be relatively accessible to families,” says Joseph McGuire, Ph.D., an author of the study and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the school of medicine. “So if you are a pediatrician and you’re having trouble getting your pediatric patient into individual mental health care, there could be some gamified mental health interventions that could be nice first steps for children while waiting to start individual therapy.”
Reference: Bryant BR, Sisk MR, McGuire JF. Efficacy of Gamified Digital Mental Health Interventions for Pediatric Mental Health Conditions: A Systematic Review and Meta- Analysis. JAMA Pediatr. Published online September 23, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3139
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