Gamified Cognitive Bias Modification Interventions for Psychiatric Disorders: Review

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Automatic biases are implicated in psychiatric disorders.
• Gamification offers a potential solution to low motivation in repetitive cognitive bias modification tasks.
• A systematic evaluation of gamified cognitive bias modification interventions is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of gamified approaches for cognitive bias modification.
• To guide future research integrating gamification into bias modification interventions.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus (post-2000).
• Included studies described gamified cognitive bias modification tasks in participants with psychopathological symptoms.
• Qualitative synthesis of data from four identified studies.

Main Results:

• Four studies evaluated gamified cognitive bias modification interventions.
• Interventions incorporated elements like animations, sounds, feedback, and scoring.
• Only two of the four studies reported effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• This is the first systematic synthesis of evidence for gamified cognitive bias modification.
• Findings should inform the design and conceptualization of future gamified interventions.