The Effectiveness of Serious Games for Alleviating Depression: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Mental Health
• Digital Therapeutics
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Depression is a prevalent mental disorder impacting mood, thoughts, and behaviors.
• Serious games, designed for therapeutic purposes beyond entertainment, are explored as non-pharmacological depression interventions.
• Previous reviews on serious games for depression have been limited by design and methodological issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically assess the effectiveness of serious games in alleviating depression symptoms.
• To synthesize and pool results from existing studies on serious games for depression treatment.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) following PRISMA guidelines.
• Searches conducted across 6 databases, Google Scholar, and reference lists.
• Independent review, data extraction, risk of bias, and quality appraisal by two reviewers; narrative and statistical synthesis.

Main Results:

• 16 studies included in meta-analyses from 966 initial citations.
• Very low-quality evidence indicated no significant effect of exergames versus conventional exercises (P=.12).
• Statistically and clinically significant improvements in depressive symptoms were observed with exergames and computerized CBT games compared to no intervention (P=.004 and P=.003, respectively).

Conclusions:

• Serious games demonstrate potential as active interventions for depression, comparable to other treatments.
• Definitive conclusions are hindered by high risk of bias and low evidence quality in reviewed studies.
• Recommend serious games as adjuncts to current interventions pending more robust evidence; future RCTs should adhere to guidelines and focus on depression-specific designs.