3196.0 - Scaling prevention: Developing and evaluating a digital health game to promote mental health in adolescents
Session: Technology and Social Media in Public Health
Authors: Tassos Kyriakides, Kaitlin Maciejewski
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Abstract
Introduction
Half of U.S. adolescents have experienced a mental health disorder, underscoring the need for scalable public health interventions. Mental health disorders often begin in adolescence or early adulthood, representing a critical period for prevention. Yet, access to evidence-based and relatable mental health resources remains limited, particularly for under-resourced populations. Serious games offer a scalable, cost-effective, and interactive way to deliver health promotion content. Funded by the NIDA HEAL Initiative, we developed PlaySmart, a digital health game designed to build knowledge and skills that encourage adolescents to seek mental health support.
Methods
Through extensive input from adolescents, PlaySmart was developed by incorporating behavior change theories, and a randomized controlled trial was designed to evaluate its efficacy. Adolescents (ages 16-19) with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and/or non-opioid substance use, and no prior opioid misuse, were enrolled at 15 Connecticut high schools. Participants were randomized 1:1 using sex and grade to either PlaySmart or control games, aiming for 300 minutes of gameplay. Assessments were completed at baseline, 6-weeks post-gameplay and at 3, 6, and 12 months. Mental health outcomes to be explored include depression, anxiety, stigma, help-seeking behaviors, self-efficacy to seek help, and coping skills knowledge and other outcomes related to mental health including opioid-related knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes. Analyses will use parametric and non-parametric techniques and logistic and longitudinal models with Sobel’s tests for mediation effects, as appropriate.
Results
Among 532 participants, at baseline, mean age was 16.6 years; 47% were female; 45% identified as Black, 34% White, 8% Asian, 4% American Indian, and the remainder a mix; 38% identified as Hispanic/Latinx. 33% reported lifetime alcohol use and 19% marijuana use. Notably, 50% reported at least mild anxiety symptoms and 61% at least minimal depression symptoms. Assessment completion rates were high: 88% at 6 weeks and at 3 months, 86% at 6 months, and 83% at 12 months. Analyses are underway.
Conclusions
PlaySmart is a rigorously developed and evaluated, scalable intervention addressing mental health in a novel and engaging format. It represents a potentially promising prevention tool, particularly for those with mental health concerns and limited access to mental health resources.