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A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Feasibility of a Science-Based Game Called Symphony to Alleviate Depression Symptoms

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ICT for Health, Accessibility and Wellbeing (IHAW 2022)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1799))

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Abstract

Clinical depression reportedly affected about 3.8% of the population worldwide in 2021. First-line treatments, such as medication and psychotherapy, can be ineffective for several reasons; hence, computerized solutions have been proposed as complementary aid tools. This paper presents Symphony, a mobile casual game designed to aid individuals with mild to moderate-severe depression symptoms. It exploits puzzle-solving, music-listening, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to provide psychoeducation for improving mental well-being and mood, and promoting cognitive stimulation. An iterative design approach was used, and was tested by a sample of university students receiving psychological support (N = 8), who completed pre-and post-intervention questionnaires to assess the impact of playing Symphony on their depressive symptomatology, mood, and also to gather their perception of the game. Additionally, therapists’ informal comments and observations were also collected. Results revealed that playing Symphony generated mostly positive affective responses and mood changes. Our study supports the feasibility of using Symphony as an adjunctive treatment strategy to induce positive changes in participants. However, further research is needed to validate Symphony’s effectiveness and make it customizable to each individual.

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Acknowledgments

Working with the NeuroRehabLab research group of Madeira Interactive Technologies institute has been an enriching experience. We would like to extend our appreciation to all the staff from NeuroRehabLab who either helped directly during the development or participated in the different tests and studies, providing helpful and valuable feedback. We would also like to thank the University of Madeira’s Psychology Service patients, who collaborated during the development and experimental process. This research was partially funded by the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) through NOVA Laboratory for Computer Science and Informatics (NOVA LINCS), Portugal (UI/BD/151404/2021); and MACbioIDi2 (MAC2/1.1b/352).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Exact Sciences and Engineering and N-LINCS Madeira, University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal

    Diana C. Gonçalves Mendes & Yuri Aristides da Silva Godinho de Almeida

  2. Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal

    Carla Vale Lucas & Luísa Soares

  3. Faculty of Exact Sciences and Engineering and N-LINCS Madeira, University of Madeira and ARDITI, Funchal, Portugal

    Sergi Bermúdez i Badia

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  1. Diana C. Gonçalves Mendes
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  2. Yuri Aristides da Silva Godinho de Almeida
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  3. Carla Vale Lucas
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  4. Luísa Soares
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  5. Sergi Bermúdez i Badia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diana C. Gonçalves Mendes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    George Angelos Papadopoulos

  2. Frederick University, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Achilleas Achilleos

  3. Université de Rouen-Normandie, Mont Saint Aignan, France

    Edwige Pissaloux

  4. Universidad Panamericana, Aguascalientes, Mexico

    Ramiro Velázquez

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Mendes, D.C.G., de Almeida, Y.A.d., Lucas, C.V., Soares, L., Bermúdez i Badia, S. (2023). A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Feasibility of a Science-Based Game Called Symphony to Alleviate Depression Symptoms. In: Papadopoulos, G.A., Achilleos, A., Pissaloux, E., Velázquez, R. (eds) ICT for Health, Accessibility and Wellbeing. IHAW 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1799. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29548-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29548-5_10

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