256 Chapter 5 lab. Finally, MindLight is an applied game in which the mental health aim is integrated in the story and cut-scenes of the game. Thus, for participants receiving the ENT-trailer it became clear while playing the game that it was aimed at reducing arousal and anxiety through relaxation, undermining their expectations that the game was a pure entertainment game. Although MindLight has been developed for and tested for efficacy in a younger age group, we expected that the first year psychology students in the current study would still enjoy playing the game based on our previous experiences with an older age group (Tsui et al., 2021). In addition, recent reviews have shown that biofeedback interventions work for youth and young adults (Lantyer et al., 2013; Schoenberg & David, 2014), but may be more effective for young people when the feedback is integrated in an applied game, increasing their motivation and engagement (Weerdmeester et al., 2020). Because first year students often experience elevated levels of anxiety (Farrer et al., 2016; Stallman, 2010; Storrie et al., 2010), we considered MindLight an appropriate and relevant applied game for this specific age group and to test our research questions. Notwithstanding the aforementioned limitations and remaining questions for future research, the current study integrated research on applied games with research on nonspecific factors and suggests that promoting an applied game as a mental health or entertainment game does not influence participants’ experiences and engagement with the game, regardless of participants’ motivation to change and symptom severity.
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