2 101 REVIEW OF APPLIED & CASUAL GAMES FOR MENTAL HEALTH Table A.5 Characteristics of the studies focussing on depression Paper Country Target group N % male Age, mean (SD) Age range Intervention arms Intervention characteristics Assessments Variables measured Findings relevant for current review Bohr et al. 2023**** Canada Youth exhibiting low mood, negative affect, depressive presentation, or significant levels of stress 50 46.0 15.18 (NA) 13-18 years 1. SPARX (applied game). 2. Waitlist control group (passive condition). 1. Youth were asked to play the game once a week, for 7 weeks. 2. Youth waited for 7 weeks and then began to play SPARX. Pre and post the intervention of both groups. Depressive symptoms, hopelessness, resilience, cognitive emotion regulation. Following the SPARX intervention, youth felt less hopeless and engaged in less self-blame, rumination and catastrophizing. No decrease in depressive symptoms or increase in resilience was found. Fleming et al. 2012 New Zealand Adolescents (at risk of being) excluded from mainstream education with possible through almost certain depressive disorder 49*a 56.3 14.90 (0.79) 13-16 years 1. SPARX (applied game). 2. Waitlist control (passive condition). 1. Seven modules completed over 5 weeks (1-2 modules per week). 2. After 5 weeks of waiting, participants in the delayed treatment group got the intervention. Pre, post, and 5-weeks FU. Depressive symptoms, quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction, anxiety symptoms, hopelessness, locus of control; adherence, adverse events. The SPARX group demonstrated improvements in depression scores over the waitlist control group. Gains were maintained at FU.
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