20 Chapter 1 factors in applied games. These two RCTs investigated the effectiveness of two applied games, MindLight and Dojo, specifically designed to reduce anxiety symptoms, and compared the effects to commercial control games (Scholten et al., 2016; Schoneveld et al., 2016). Results from both trials showed equal improvements in anxiety symptoms for both the intervention and the control group. Although the applied games explicitly incorporated evidence-based techniques for anxiety and the two control games did not, equal reductions in anxiety symptoms were found. This suggests that nonspecific factors such as expectations and motivation to change may have contributed to these findings. To date, limited attention has been given to nonspecific factors in the literature on applied games and their potential effects remain largely unknown (Enck et al., 2017; Torous & Firth, 2016). In order to optimise the effectiveness of applied games to their full potential, it is crucial to examine and harness the benefits of nonspecific factors (Enck et al., 2013). It is hypothesised that nonspecific factors positively influence mental health outcomes directly, as well as through engagement. Previous research on conventional therapy has shown that nonspecific factors contribute to both positive intervention outcomes and process-related variables such as engagement, adherence, effort and invested time in the treatment (Boettcher et al., 2013; Boot et al., 2013; Colloca, 2018b; Constantino et al., 2018; Greenberg et al., 2006; Wampold, 2015; Westra et al., 2007). In turn, research has found that these variables related to engagement predict positive intervention outcomes (Becker et al., 2015; Lindsey et al., 2019; C. M. Yeager & Benight, 2022). The variables studied in the current dissertation are explained in more detail below. NONSPECIFIC FACTORS, ENGAGEMENT AND POSITIVE OUTCOMES As briefly mentioned earlier, one of the most significant nonspecific factors to consider in applied games is individuals’ expectations for improvement (Asay & Lambert, 1999; Lambert, 2005). Applied games are usually introduced with a clear aim to promote (mental) health, which naturally induces expectations for improvement. Previous research has demonstrated that expectations drive a large majority of (conventional) intervention effects (Greenberg et al., 2006), but also particularly so in experimental game design studies (Boot et al., 2013). Research on conventional programmes has also shown that individuals with higher expectations for improvement invested more time and effort in, for example, an unguided internet-based self-help programme for social
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