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Horizon: Resilience – Design of a Serious Game for Ecological Momentary Intervention for Depression

Published: 15 October 2021 Publication History

Abstract

Depression is the world’s most prevalent mental disorder and the primary source of disability adjusted life years (DALY). While traditional face-to-face therapies have been shown to be effective, alternative delivery methods, e.g. internet-based therapies, have been investigated to overcome barriers to access, such as lack of availability of therapists and infrastructure. This article presents the design of a mobile serious game as a novel psychological momentary ecological intervention for depressive symptoms. We discuss how selected principles and techniques of common psychological frameworks used to tackle depression, namely Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (including Behavioral Activation) and Positive Psychotherapy, were integrated in the game concept, gameplay and game mechanics of ”Horizon: Resilience”, a City Building and Decision Making serious game. The selected techniques are put central in the game design by introducing ”the Power R(esilience)”, which groups the psychological principles of motivation for change, cognitive flexibility, activation and positivity. While identifying with game characters and maintaining high levels of the Power R, the players are introduced to and learn to use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Positive Psychotherapy strategies, which they can ultimately apply in their real-life depressive symptomatology.

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  • (2024)LCBuddy: Towards a Smartphone-based Self-Assessment Tool for Postpartum Patients With Breast PainExtended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3650944(1-7)Online publication date: 11-May-2024

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cover image ACM Conferences
CHI PLAY '21: Extended Abstracts of the 2021 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
October 2021
414 pages
ISBN:9781450383561
DOI:10.1145/3450337
Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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Publication History

Published: 15 October 2021

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Author Tags

  1. Depression
  2. Game Design
  3. Psychological Intervention
  4. Serious Game

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  • Work in progress
  • Research
  • Refereed limited

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  • Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital

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CHI PLAY '21
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View all
  • (2024)LCBuddy: Towards a Smartphone-based Self-Assessment Tool for Postpartum Patients With Breast PainExtended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3650944(1-7)Online publication date: 11-May-2024

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