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.
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.
The 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.
More 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.
A new paper by Aniek Wols, Marlou Poppelaars, Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff and Isabela Granic is out, published in Entertainment Computing!
This month’s theme was about Fear of Failure. We wrote several blogs and GEMH-lab members shared their failures on twitter.
This 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.
Expectations and beliefs not only have an influence on self-reported improvements, but they also influence our physiology.
The placebo effect is more than just a sugar pill. The social context plays an important role in reinforcing beliefs about the treatment.
It 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..
This 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.
Why are mindsets important, how do they relate to (mental) health and can mindsets be changed?
In this blog, I will provide you with some (scientifically proven) steps and techniques to change your behaviour.
In 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.
The SIPS conference is devoted to medical, psychological, and neurobiological research on placebo effects, and will also address ethical dilemmas and treatment options.
The symposium will be held in the renovated building 'Collegium Veteranorum'
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.
Symposium: Promoting emotional resilience through games for emotional and mental health at EARA 2018
Symposium: “Video Games for Promoting Emotional and Mental Health in Young People" at ICPS 2019
Multidisciplinary conference on technological innovations for wellbeing Symposium: Video games for promoting emotional and mental health in young people
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.
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)
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.
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
Developmental psychopathology, Applied video games, Specific and non-specific factors
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 03-15-2020
Wols, A., Hollenstein, T., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic (2021). Games for Health, 10(4), 207-219.
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 08-09-2021
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
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
Wols, A., Hollenstein, T., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2019). https://osf.io/6gmwv
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 07-05-2019
Wols, A., Poppelaars, M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2020). Entertainment Computing, 100371.
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 07-07-2020
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