The effect of a gamified goal-setting intervention on confidence in navigating problems and the influence of depressive symptoms
Ritu Halbhavi
I am Ritu, a 2nd Year Psychology Student at Warwick. I am deeply interested in mental health research and hope to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology. I am keen on investigating digitisation of mental health practices and understanding how mental processes can influence individuals鈥� experiences of mental disorders.
About the Project
Digital interventions are employed in Depression research to help overcome accessibility issues posed by face-to-face approaches. Moreover, gamification, or incorporation of game elements into digital interventions, has shown promise in fostering engagement and overall effectiveness of these interventions. Goal-setting interventions have been investigated through gamified formats. However, there is limited research on how levels of depressive symptoms can influence the effectiveness of gamified goal-setting. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a text-based versus gamified goal-setting intervention on confidence in navigating problems, and whether individuals with differing levels of depressive symptoms can benefit equally from the gamified intervention. A goal-setting technique was transformed into a brief intervention using a game-creation platform, Ren鈥檖y. Confidence in navigating problems upon the intervention was measured on a confidence rating scale, and level of depression was measured using the CES-D 10, a self-report depression scale. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to analyse confidence ratings per intervention and how ratings may change depending on depressive levels. Contrary to predictions, there was no significant difference in confidence levels between the gamified and non-gamified conditions. The effect of depressive levels on confidence did not change depending on intervention type, and an increase in depression levels predicted lower confidence levels overall. The results showcase that the current gamified strategies were unsuccessful in buffering the influence of elevated depressive symptoms. This suggests that future research on gamified goal-setting must consider alternative gamified features like progress-tracking or emotion regulation strategies to counteract the influence of depression on confidence.