Thesis presents a video game for the treatment of mild or moderate depressive symptomatology

Depression is the most common mental disorder in our society, the leading cause of disability and closely linked to suicide. Although there are some psychological treatments, they only reach a small proportion of the people who need them. The use of smartphones is a possible solution to expand access to these treatments; however, interventions based on these devices still face high dropout rates.

The doctorate rack defended by Águeda Gómez Cambronero under the title “Horizon: Resilience; a psychological intervention based on a serious mobile game for depressive symptomatology”, directed by Sven Casteleyn, from the Geospatial Technologies Group (GEOTEC) and Adriana Mira Pastor, from the Laboratory of Psychology and Technology (LabPsiTec), has designed a psychological intervention based on a serious mobile game for depressive symptomatology and, as far as we know, it would be the first video game with these characteristics that integrates data from the smartphone’s motion sensor as an element of the game.

It is a city-building game in which the player must manage a city to make it grow and strengthen the resilience of its inhabitants. It is based on cognitive behavioral therapy and positive psychology techniques, with a special emphasis on physical activity detected through the smartphone’s motion sensor. It has combined innovative techniques from computer science and psychology to provide an alternative and novel form of treatment.

The game has been evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively by therapists and patients, who have rated it very positively as a treatment for mild to moderate depressive symptomatology, and have expressed their desire to play. It combines different genres and psychological approaches, and encourages physical activity, and includes the design of a protocol for a future randomized controlled pilot study that will evaluate its effectiveness on a preliminary basis.

Related research is also published in the diary Internet interventions.

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