Summary: A new digital health intervention, developed over a decade of research, uses a gamified app to help reduce depressive symptoms by disrupting ruminative thought patterns. The app, which features five mini-games, encourages users to progress through thoughts more flexibly, aiming to break negative cycles.
In an 8-week trial, participants who used the app reported faster symptom improvement compared to those who didn’t. These benefits persisted up to four weeks after the study, suggesting long-lasting effects.
This neuroscience-backed tool may offer an accessible, engaging complement to traditional depression treatments. Researchers believe this app could become a valuable resource for those dealing with depression.
Key Facts:
- The app’s gamified approach disrupts ruminative thinking, a key factor in depression.
- Study participants using the app showed greater symptom improvement than controls.
- Positive effects lasted up to four weeks post-study, indicating lasting impact.
Source: JMIR Publications
A new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research by JMIR Publications reveals promising results from a digital health intervention that is based on a decade of research at Harvard Medical School and designed to alleviate depressive symptoms.
The study, titled “Facilitating Thought Progression to Reduce Depressive Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial,” found that participants experienced substantial reduction of depressive symptoms by using a gamified mobile app focused on disrupting ruminative thinking.
Led by Prof. Moshe Bar and colleagues, the research focused on a new gamified approach to target ruminative thinking—a major contributor to depression. The app used in this study includes 5 mini-games designed to help users break negative thought cycles, encouraging flexible thought progression.
Over the 8-week randomized controlled trial, conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital, participants using the app showed faster and more substantial symptom improvement than those not using the app, based on weekly clinician evaluations throughout the study.
Additionally, the positive effects of using the app were still evident up to 4 weeks after the study ended, indicating the potential long-lasting impact of the app.
“After demonstrating in the laboratory the striking effect of facilitating thought progression on mood, we now reveal that implementing this neuroscience-based approach in a digital app can provide a most viable path for the alleviation of depression symptoms,” reported Prof. Moshe Bar.
This study shows that a gamified app can offer a unique and potent way to break negative thought cycles by facilitating the progression of thought. By implementing effective therapy that is both engaging and accessible, this science-based gamified approach can complement traditional treatment methods for depression.
About this depression and neurotech research news
Author: Jane Kelly
Source: JMIR Publications
Contact: Jane Kelly – JMIR Publications
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Facilitating Thought Progression to Reduce Depressive Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial” by Moshe Bar et al. Journal of Medical Internet Research
Abstract
Facilitating Thought Progression to Reduce Depressive Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial
Background:The constant rise in the prevalence of major depressive disorder calls for new, effective, and accessible interventions that can rapidly and effectively reach a wide range of audiences. Recent developments in the digital health domain suggest that dedicated online platforms may potentially address this gap.
Focusing on targeting ruminative thought, a major symptomatic hallmark of depression, in this study we hypothesized that delivering a digital health–based intervention designed to systematically facilitate thought progression would substantially alleviate depression.
Objective:The study aims to investigate the efficacy of a novel digital intervention on the reduction of depressive symptoms. This intervention was designed as an easy-to-use gamified app specifically aimed to facilitate thought progression through intense practicing of associative, semantically broad, fast, and creative thought patterns.
Methods:A randomized clinical trial was conducted, comparing changes in depression symptoms between participants who used the app in the intervention group (n=74) and waitlist control group (n=27) over the course of 8 weeks. All participants filled out a battery of clinical questionnaires to assess the severity of depression at baseline and 4 and 8 weeks after starting the study.
These primarily included the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 as well as the Positive Affect Negative Affect Scale-Negative Affect Score, Ruminative Response Scale, and Symptoms of Depression Questionnaire. Additional questionnaires were implemented to assess anxiety, positive affect, anhedonia, and quality of life.
Results:The results indicate that across multiple clinical measurements, participants in the intervention group who played the gamified app showed greater and faster improvement in depressive symptoms compared with their waitlist control counterparts. The difference between the groups in MADRS improvement was –7.01 points (95% CI –10.72 to –3.29; P<.001; Cohen d=0.67).
Furthermore, the difference in improvement between groups persisted up to 4 weeks posttrial (MADRS differences at week 12: F49,2=6.62; P=.003; ηp2=0.21). At the end of the trial, participants who played the app showed high interest in continuing using the app.
Conclusions:The results demonstrate that a gamified app designed to facilitate thought progression is associated with improvement in depressive symptoms. Given its innovative and accessibility features, this gamified method aiming to facilitate thought progression may successfully complement traditional treatments for depression in the future, providing a safe and impactful way to enhance the lives of individuals experiencing depression and anxiety.
Trial Registration:ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05685758; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05685758
