6 263 EXPLICIT MESSAGING PROMOTES GAME SELECTION On the other hand, the stealth approach may be very promising considering stigma and the reluctance of youth to seek treatment for mental health issues (Barney et al., 2006; Gulliver et al., 2010; Merikangas et al., 2011). Whereas explicitly promoted serious games may stand apart from ‘normal games,’ serious games may blend in with the available commercial games if they avoid explicit health messages both in their promotion and in the content of the game (e.g., not using psychoeducation; Buday, 2015). Additionally, youth who are (initially) resistant to the idea of treatment may avoid anything related to their mental health issues including a mental health game (e.g., out of embarrassment), while a stealth game is less likely to trigger resistance. The current study examined the impact of explicit mental health and stealth entertainment promotion on game choice and game experience in young adults with elevated mental health symptoms. Hypotheses about the relative impact of these two approaches may be formed based on several theoretical models focused on media choice. These models suggest that media selection can be based on a person’s needs, motivations (Katz et al., 1973), mood (Zillmann, 1988), mood deteriorating costs from media (Perse, 1998; Fahr & Bocking, 2009), long term benefits of media (Oliver, 2009), and a person’s desire to maintain their autonomy (Brehm, 1966; Burgoon et al., 2002). All of these models may indicate that explicit messaging would turn youth off to a mental health game. For example, reactance theory and the escape model suggest that health messages would drive youth to an alternative game, either because they perceive the message to threaten their choice freedom (Brehm, 1966; Hornik et al., 2008; Richards & Banas, 2015; Richards et al., 2017) or because they expect the game to induce negative emotions (e.g., an aim of stress management may imply confrontations with stress; Perse, 1998; Fahr & Bocking, 2009). However, many of these same theories may also be used to explain why youth may be attracted to explicit mental health games provided that youth have an interest in improving their well-being. For example, a wider definition of needs and costs from media suggests that youth would play an explicit mental health game to gain insight into personal issues and current negative emotions may be tolerated for long-term benefits (Oliver, 2009). Next to media selection theories, the motivational theory of selfdetermination may predict youth’s responses to messaging depending on their intrinsic values. Intrinsic motivation (i.e., motivation stemming from the activity itself, e.g., the activity interests you) is theorized to be supported by three psychological needs being fulfilled: autonomy (experiencing the freedom to make your own decisions), competence (experiencing that you
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