Games available on a variety of platforms, including mobile devices, game consoles, and computers, have been developed to address some mental health outcomes. What is “mental health”? According to the World Health Organization, mental health “is a state of affective and cognitive wellness, and an absence of mental problems or psychological symptoms.” Cheng and Ebrahimi conducted a meta-analytic review focused on studies of gaming that either reduce psychological symptoms or enhance mental health. The outcomes measured in the selected studies were quality of life, subjective well-being, anxiety, and depression.
All included studies assessed a gaming intervention compared to control conditions. Control conditions included other types of psychological interventions or no intervention (for example, waitlist). These studies included 5792 participants: 48% were men.
The meta-analysis found that games were more effective at improving the quality of life or subjective well-being of participants rather than reducing depressive or anxiety symptoms. Specifically, gaming was less effective at reducing depressive symptoms in clinical samples (those who have clinical depression or physical health problems) compared to community samples. “Gamified programs that have been conducted with community samples, who did not experience any clinical problems, have been generally effective in mitigating depressive symptoms” (p. 13).
For reducing anxiety symptoms, a sex difference was observed. Samples with higher numbers of male participants had a greater reduction in anxiety than those with all-female or “female-dominant” samples. The positive effects of games were observed within the first two months of use, so a longer gaming period did not yield better results.
Takeaway: Gaming holds promise as a means of enhancing mental well-being. The appropriate role of gaming for psychiatric symptoms may be as an add-on or supplement, rather than a replacement for traditional forms of therapy.
Citation: Cheng, C., & Ebrahimi, O. V. (2023). A meta-analytic review of gamified interventions in mental health enhancements. Computers in Human Behavior, 141, 1-17. https://doi.org./10.1016/j.chb.2022.107621.
World Health Organization (2023, Aug 20). Mental health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response.
©Jennie Dilworth, Ph.D