254 Chapter 5 Table 10 Paired samples t-tests for GSR between the different timebins Pair Mean difference (SD) [95% CI] t a df p Timebin 1 Timebin 2 -6.45 (17.92) [-11.44; -1.46] -2.59 51 .01 Timebin 3 -7.71 (21.64) [-13.74; -1.69] -2.57 51 .01 Timebin 4 -9.26 (31.67) [-18.08; -0.45] -2.11 51 .04 Timebin 5 -4.66 (27.38) [-12.28; 2.97] -1.23 51 .23 Timebin 6 -4.98 (27.87) [-12.74; 2.78] -1.29 51 .20 Timebin 2 Timebin 3 -1.27 (12.64) [- 4.79; 2.25] -0.72 51 .47 Timebin 4 -2.82 (22.87) [ -9.18; 3.55] -0.89 51 .38 Timebin 5 1.79 (23.84) [ -4.84; 8.43] 0.54 51 .59 Timebin 6 1.47 (23.19) [ -4.99; 7.92] 0.46 51 .65 Timebin 3 Timebin 4 -1.55 (21.86) [ -7.63; 4.53] -0.51 51 .61 Timebin 5 3.06 (22.66) [ -3.25; 9.36] 0.97 51 .34 Timebin 6 2.73 (22.01) [ -3.39; 8.86] 0.90 51 .38 Timebin 4 Timebin 5 4.61 (19.02) [ -0.69; 9.90] 1.75 51 .09 Timebin 6 4.28 (21.04) [ -1.58; 10.14] 1.47 51 .15 Timebin 5 Timebin 6 -0.32 (9.99) [ -3.10; 2.46] -0.23 51 .82 Notes. a Bootstrapping the paired samples t-tests with n = 1000 samples showed similar results for all comparisons. SD, standard deviation, CI, confidence interval; df, degrees of freedom; GSR, galvanic skin response. DISCUSSION The current study examined the effect of participants’ expectations for improvement (i.e., playing a mental health game or a regular entertainment game) on the following outcomes: 1) experienced fun and positive affect, and 2) in-game play behaviours while playing MindLight, an applied game shown to reduce anxiety symptoms in several randomised controlled trial (RCT) studies (Schoneveld et al., 2018; Schoneveld et al., 2016; Tsui et al., 2021; Wijnhoven et al., 2020). We also investigated changes in state-anxiety, arousal, and GSR. The secondary aim was to test the moderating role of motivation to change and symptom severity. Our findings that expectations did not influence experienced fun and affect, are in line with previous research showing that young adults experiencing mental health symptoms found a commercial video game promoted as a mental health game similarly attractive and fun as the same game being promoted for its entertainment value (Poppelaars, Wols, et al., 2018). More
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