Effects of a Gamified Attention-Bias Modification Mobile Application in Trait-Anxious Adults

Abstract:

Interest in the use of mobile technology to deliver mental-health services has grown in light of the economic and practical barriers to treatment. Yet research on alternative delivery strategies that are more affordable, accessible, and engaging is in its infancy. Attention-bias modification training (ABMT) has the potential to reduce treatment barriers as a mobile intervention for stress and anxiety, but the degree to which ABMT can be embedded in a mobile gaming format and its potential for transfer of benefits is unknown. In the present study, we examined effects of a gamified ABMT mobile application in highly trait-anxious participants (N = 78). A single session of the active training relative to the placebo training reduced subjective anxiety and observed stress reactivity. Critically, the long (45 min) but not the short (25 min) active training condition reduced the core cognitive process implicated in ABMT (threat bias) as measured by an untrained, gold-standard protocol.

Source:  Clinical Psychological Science

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Impact of a mobile phone and web program on symptom and functional outcomes for people with mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress: a randomised controlled trial

From the abstract:

Mobile phone-based psychological interventions enable real time self-monitoring and self-management, and large-scale dissemination. However, few studies have focussed on mild-to-moderate symptoms where public health need is greatest, and none have targeted work and social functioning. This study reports outcomes of a CONSORT-compliant randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the efficacy of myCompass, a self-guided psychological treatment delivered via mobile phone and computer, designed to reduce mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress, and improve work and social functioning.

Source: BMC Psychiatry

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Game-based learning: latest evidence and future directions

From the Press Release:

The role of video games in teaching and learning is a source of debate among many educators, researchers and in the popular press. Detractors and advocates have been discussing the influences and the potentials of video games for quite some time, and we feel that sound evidence and informed advice on these topics is still very much needed. Against this background, Futurelab at NFER felt that it was timely to provide practitioners, industry and researchers with an up-to-date account of what the evidence tells us about game-based learning and its potential impact on learning and teaching. The review aims to bridge academic and non academic domains, to provide insights that will be of interest to educators, educational researchers, industry and others seeking to engage in a more thoughtful debate about the types of educational values that can be attached to gaming. In particular, we provide accessible advice for practitioners, in the belief that innovation in education is always underpinned by informed and critical teaching.

Source: The National Foundation for Educational Research in England and Wales
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