2 51 REVIEW OF APPLIED & CASUAL GAMES FOR MENTAL HEALTH assigned to the anxiety category mentioned earlier. Participants’ mean age ranged from 7 to 14 years, and the proportion of male participants varied from 60.0% to 83.8%. All studies used a regular RCT design. See Table A.8 (Appendix) for the characteristics and findings of these studies. Effect sizes were calculated on parent-reported disruptive behaviours (Coles et al., 2015) and mentor-reported externalising problems (Schuurmans et al., 2018). Data could not be obtained for the study of Ducharme et al. (2021). The study of Coles et al. (2015) included three intervention arms, comparing two intervention programs (both including a game and therapy sessions) to a passive condition. The two intervention programs were the same with the exception that the material presented by the game content differed. Since the aim of the study was to evaluate the intervention that trained metacognitive skills, this specific intervention was categorised as the applied game and the other intervention program as the active condition for the purpose of this review. The study of Coles et al. (2015) therefore contributed two effect sizes to the plot. The study of Schuurmans et al. (2018) included two intervention arms, comparing an applied game to an active condition. As can be seen in Figure A.10 (Appendix), the two effect sizes comparing an applied game to an active condition were –0.60 and 0.09, both nonsignificant. The comparison of an applied game to a passive condition showed a nonsignificant effect size of 0.32. Other Clinical Populations Four papers included a clinical population not previously addressed. These papers focused on youth with developmental delays or disabilities, those at high risk of psychopathology, and those with elevated symptoms of psychopathology. Participants’ mean age ranged from 5 to 18 years, and the proportion of male participants varied from 25.0% to 59.0%. Three studies used a regular RCT design, while one study used a crossover design (R. L. Hsieh et al., 2016). Because the target groups and outcomes measured differed between these four papers, no effect sizes were calculated. See Table A.9 (Appendix) for the characteristics and findings of these studies. Healthy Populations Anxiety in Medical Settings Twenty-five studies (described in 24 papers) included participants who underwent different medical procedures (e.g., venipunctures, surgeries, cast removals or dental visits). Participants’ mean age ranged from 6 to 15 years,
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