2 141 REVIEW OF APPLIED & CASUAL GAMES FOR MENTAL HEALTH Paper Country Target group N % male Age, mean (SD) Age range Intervention arms Intervention characteristics Assessments Variables measured Findings relevant for current review Kato et al. 2008 USA, Canada, and Australia Adolescents and young adults with an initial or relapse diagnosis of a malignancy, currently undergoing treatment and expected to continue treatment for at least four months 375*e 67.7 13-14 year: 35.5%. 15-16 year: 30.7%. 17-18 year: 21.3%. 19-29 year: 12.7%. 13-29 years 1. Re-Mission (applied game) + control commercial game. 2. Commercial game, Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb (casual game). 1-2. Participants were asked to play the game(s) for at least 1 hour per week, during the 3-months study period. Pre, halfway (after 1 months), and post (i.e., three months after baseline). Adherence to treatment, self-efficacy to manage cancer and its treatment, knowledge about cancer, quality of life (minors) / functional status (adults), locus of control, perceived stress; gender, ethnicity, country of residence, and game-play adherence (moderators); adverse events, attrition. Quality of life and perceived stress were not significantly altered by the intervention. Kuosmanen et al. 2017*** Ireland Adolescents attending an alternative education programmeq 146 46.6 17.60 (1.24) 15-20 years 1. SPARX-R, CBT-based self-help intervention (applied game). 2. No-intervention control (passive condition). 1. Seven levels/ modules, each taking 20-30 minutes to complete. Every week, one module was completed. Pre and post. Depressive symptoms, generalised anxiety symptoms, gen. mental well-being, coping styles (avoidant, support seeking, problem solving), emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression); program acceptability, perceived helpfulness, frequency of practicing techniques. Compared to the control group, the SPARX-R group showed a decrease in expressive suppression. No significant effects on other outcomes were found.
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