Home › Research › Prevention trials
Digital Gaming Interventions in Psychiatry: Evidence, Applications and Challenges
Vajawat B, Varshney P, Banerjee D.. Psychiatry research, 2020-11-24
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Human evolution has regularly intersected with technology. Digitalization of various services has brought a paradigm shift in consumerism. Treading this path, mental health practice has gradually moved to Digital Mental Health Interventions (DMHI), to improve service access and delivery. Applied games are one such innovation that has gained recent popularity in psychiatry. Based on the principles of gamification, they target psychosocial and cognitive domains, according to the deficits in various psychiatric disorders. They have been used to deliver cognitive behaviour therapy, cognitive training and rehabilitation, behavioural modification, social motivation, attention enhancement, and biofeedback. Research shows their utility in ADHD, autistic spectrum disorders, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress, impulse control disorders, depression, schizophrenia, dementia, and even healthy aging. Virtual reality and artificial intelligence have been used in conjunction with gaming interventions to improvise their scope. Even though these interventions hold promise in engagement, ease of use, reduction of stigma, and bridging the mental-health gap, there are pragmatic challenges, especially in developing countries. These include network quality, infrastructure, feasibility, socio-cultural adaptability, and potential for abuse. Keeping this in the background, this review summarizes the scope, promise, and evidence of digital gaming in psychiatric practice, and highlights the potential caveats in their implementation.
Key findings
- Research shows their utility in ADHD, autistic spectrum disorders, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress, impulse control disorders, depression, schizophrenia, dementia, and even healthy aging.
- Virtual reality and artificial intelligence have been used in conjunction with gaming interventions to improvise their scope.
- Even though these interventions hold promise in engagement, ease of use, reduction of stigma, and bridging the mental-health gap, there are pragmatic challenges, especially in developing countries.
- These include network quality, infrastructure, feasibility, socio-cultural adaptability, and potential for abuse.
- Keeping this in the background, this review summarizes the scope, promise, and evidence of digital gaming in psychiatric practice, and highlights the potential caveats in their implementation.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Prevention →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Psychiatry research) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 33303223) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 23 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Vajawat, B., Varshney, P., & Banerjee, D. (2021). Digital Gaming Interventions in Psychiatry: Evidence, Applications and Challenges. Psychiatry research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113585
Vancouver
Vajawat B, Varshney P, Banerjee D. Digital Gaming Interventions in Psychiatry: Evidence, Applications and Challenges. Psychiatry research. 2021. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113585. PMID: 33303223.
BibTeX
@article{vajawat2021-33303223,
author = {Vajawat, B. and Varshney, P. and Banerjee, D.},
title = {{Digital Gaming Interventions in Psychiatry: Evidence, Applications and Challenges}},
journal = {Psychiatry research},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113585},
pmid = {33303223},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113585}
}
Related studies in Prevention trials
Also in Prevention trials
86 studies in the library are filed under Prevention trials with no topic tag they share with another; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed tour of them. The Prevention trials hub.