Aniek Wolsonline
Short bio
I am interested in how and why applied games for mental health work, with a specific focus on the influence of one's mindset, motivation and expectations.
Top-3 games
- Polytopia
- Monument Valley
- Overcooked
About me
In 2016 I graduated from the Research Master Behavioural Science at Radboud University in Nijmegen. With funding from a Research Talent grant from NWO (the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) I examine the effects of specific therapeutic techniques and nonspecific factors such as mindset, motivation and expectations in our applied games for mental health. Besides doing research for my PhD-project, I also work 1-2 days a week for the ethics committee social sciences at Radboud University.
Projects I’ve worked on
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CategoryAnxietyDate29/11/2020Study/CourseLocation
Are Improvements in Anxiety Associated with How Children Play MindLight?
About the projectThe video game MindLight has been found to be an effective anxiety prevention program (see project: MindLight - Childhood Anxiety Prevention). However, we don’t know whether the clinical techniques incorporated in the game were responsible for the observed changes in anxiety symptoms. In this project we examined how children play MindLight, to what extent they interact with the clinical techniques in the game and how that relates to their anxiety improvements.
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CategoryResilienceDate29/11/2020Study/CourseLocation
Nonspecific Factors in Video Games for Mental Health
About the projectMore and more games are designed to promote mental health. If these games are found to be effective, it is important to investigate which factors are responsible for the improvements in mental health. Most often, this type of research focuses on the specific clinical techniques that were designed into the game. However, from the clinical literature it is known that, for instance, expectations, motivation, and one’s mindset about the malleability of symptoms play a major role in positive intervention outcomes. In my project I aim to investigate these nonspecific factors and examine how we can manipulate these factors in order to optimize video games for mental health.
My updates
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New paper online: The role of motivation to change and mindsets in a game promoted for mental health
Aniek Wols - 11-06-2020A new paper by Aniek Wols, Marlou Poppelaars, Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff and Isabela Granic is out, published in Entertainment Computing!
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Roundup October Fear of Failure theme month
Aniek Wols - 31-10-2018This month’s theme was about Fear of Failure. We wrote several blogs and GEMH-lab members shared their failures on twitter.
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Roundup and discussion - June placebo theme month
Aniek Wols - 28-06-2018This month’s theme is about placebo effects. Because the month is almost over, I would like to end the theme month with a discussion. Before I do so, I will briefly recap our previous blog posts.
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The placebo effect and our physiology
Aniek Wols - 15-06-2018Expectations and beliefs not only have an influence on self-reported improvements, but they also influence our physiology.
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Environmental and psychosocial components of the placebo effect
Aniek Wols - 11-06-2018The placebo effect is more than just a sugar pill. The social context plays an important role in reinforcing beliefs about the treatment.
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Theme Month June - What do you expect?
Aniek Wols - 03-06-2018It is June and time for a new theme! Before I tell you what this month’s theme is about, I would like to tell you a little story..
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Relax with Monument Valley
Aniek Wols - 14-05-2018This month’s theme is about help-seeking for anxiety and depression. There are quite some people that play video games to feel better and to lower their anxiety and depressive feelings. In this blog, I would like to tell you more about Monument Valley. This game is not only one of GEMH’s favourite games, but also a game that a lot of participants in one of our studies enjoyed very much because it is so relaxing and calming.
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Mindsets, mental health and opportunities for intervention
Aniek Wols - 30-01-2018Why are mindsets important, how do they relate to (mental) health and can mindsets be changed?
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How to change your own behaviour?
Aniek Wols - 26-10-2017In this blog, I will provide you with some (scientifically proven) steps and techniques to change your behaviour.
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Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) at school
Aniek Wols - 12-10-2017In September, Mariska Kool and Erna Terpstra visited the GEMH Lab. Mariska and Erna are involved in a very special project; they teach children by using Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) games.
Events View all events
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UNTILL11November15NovemberAbout the event
Surf your stress week at Wageningen University & Research
LocationWageningen, The Netherlands
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UNTILL02April04AprilAbout the event
SIPS Conference on Placebo Studies
LocationFaculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of Leiden University
The SIPS conference is devoted to medical, psychological, and neurobiological research on placebo effects, and will also address ethical dilemmas and treatment options.
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26FebruaryAbout the event
Games for Mental Health in the Lowlands
LocationKU Leuven
The symposium will be held in the renovated building 'Collegium Veteranorum'
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UNTILL13September15SeptemberAbout the event
EARA 2018
LocationGhent, Belgium
GEMH Lab speaks at the biennial conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA) which took place in Ghent between September 12 and September 15 2018.
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UNTILL12September15SeptemberAbout the event
European Association for Research on Adolescence - 2018
LocationGhent, Belgium
Symposium: Promoting emotional resilience through games for emotional and mental health at EARA 2018
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UNTILL07March09MarchAbout the event
International Convention of Psychological Science 2019
LocationParis, France
Symposium: “Video Games for Promoting Emotional and Mental Health in Young People" at ICPS 2019
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UNTILL16May17MayAbout the event
Health By Tech
LocationGroningen, the Netherlands
Multidisciplinary conference on technological innovations for wellbeing Symposium: Video games for promoting emotional and mental health in young people
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UNTILL07March09MarchAbout the event
International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS)
LocationParis, France
ICPS is a one-of-a-kind event designed to showcase integrative science that crosses disciplinary and geographical boundaries. Held biennially, ICPS is the culmination of efforts by the Association for Psychological Science and an international network of organizations and individual scientists to stimulate global collaboration and scientific exploration. It features some of the world’s most distinguished investigators from not only psychological science, but from a range of disciplines including computer science, neurobiology, anthropology, and sociology.
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UNTILL16May17MayAbout the event
Supporting Health by Tech
LocationGroningen, The Netherlands
The conference Supporting Health by Technology (9th Edition) will be organised in the MartiniPlaza in Groningen (the Netherlands). The conference is organised by the Dept. of Health Psychology of the University Medical Center Groningen & the Dept. of Psychology, Health and Technology of the University of Twente (Centre for eHealth and Wellbeing Research), under the auspices of The Dutch eHealth Foundation (www.NeHS.nl)
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UNTILL03May04MayAbout the event
Development 2018
LocationBrock University, St. Catherines
Development 2018 – A Canadian Conference on Developmental Psychology This conference follows the successful Development 2014 hosted by Carleton University and attended by over 450 Canadian Developmental Psychology faculty, students, and practitioners.
My publications
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Efficacy of a Virtual Reality Biofeedback Game (DEEP) to Reduce Anxiety and Disruptive Classroom Behavior: Single-Case Study
Bossenbroek, R., Wols, A., Weerdmeester, J., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., Granic, I., & van Rooij, M. (2020). JMIR Mental Health, 7(3), e16066. http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/16066
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 03-24-2020
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Aniek Wols on Google Scholar
Developmental psychopathology, Applied video games, Specific and non-specific factors
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 03-15-2020
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In-Game Play Behaviours during an Applied Video Game for Anxiety Prevention Predict Successful Intervention Outcomes
Wols, A., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., Schoneveld, E. A., & Granic, I. (2018). Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 40, 655-668. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-018-9684-4
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 06-11-2018
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Explicit Mental Health Messaging Promotes Serious Video Game Selection in Youth with Elevated Mental Health Symptoms
Poppelaars, M., Wols, A., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2018). Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01837
Author: Marlou Poppelaars
Upload date: 09-10-2018
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Preregistration: The Effect of Expectations on Experienced Fun, Mood, State-Anxiety and In-Game Play Behaviours while playing MindLight
Wols, A., Hollenstein, T., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2019). https://osf.io/6gmwv
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 07-05-2019
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The Role of Motivation to Change and Mindsets in a Game Promoted for Mental Health
Wols, A., Poppelaars, M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2020). Entertainment Computing, 100371.
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 07-07-2020
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Mental Health Outcomes of an Applied Game for Children with Elevated Anxiety Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Non-inferiority Trial
Schoneveld, E.A., Wols, A., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., Otten, R., & Granic I. (2020). Journal of Child and Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01728-y
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 06-24-2020
Worked together with
Professor and Chair of the Developmental Psychopathology department in the Behavioural Science Institute; writer; voracious podcast consumer; mother of two upstanding little gamers
Director of GEMH Lab
Assistant Professor at the Developmental Psychopathology Department, mainly interested in general processes and principles of clinical change; mother of two wild boys.
Assistant Professor
Assistant prof. and data geek at the GEMH lab, dynamical modelling, personalisation, wants to put the I back into AI, news junkie, cat lover.
Assistant Professor
Researcher, psychologist, PhD-candidate, gamer, dungeon master, language enthusiast and lover of all things geeky.
PhD-Candidate
I am a PhD-Candidate passionate about internalizing psychopathology prevention and the use of technology and innovation for this purpose while stimulating intrinsic motivation. I love to read, cook and bake everything delicious. Working on finishing my dissertation and Two Dots (Level 2253 and counting).
PhD-Candidate
Associate Professor in Developmental Psychology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Associate Professor - Collaborator
Graduate and psychologist interested in the effect of games on mental health. Likes why-questions, social impact and multidisciplinary collaboration. Bubbly, (not so crazy) cat lady and outdoor enthusiast.
Graduate