Elke Schoneveldoffline

Short bio

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.

Top-3 games
  1. Little Big Planet
  2. Monument Valley
  3. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
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"One can no more say what the effects of video games are, than one can say what the effects of food are"

Daphne Bavelier

About me

I was born in a small village nearby Deventer, and did my bachelor in Psychology at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. In addition to the regular program, I went abroad for a semester to Glasgow University, Scotland. After my bachelor, I finished the Research Master Behavioural Science, specializing in social development and investigating the socialization of prosocial behavior by best friends of adolescents. To bridge the gap between science and practice, I also completed the clinical master Health Psychology in Nijmegen, including a clinical internship at Radboud Ambulatorium Youth and started to work as a PhD-student at the research group of Developmental Psychopathology. My project focused on the prevention effect of the applied video game MindLight on anxiety symptoms in children. During this project, I conducted two randomized controlled trials comparing MindLight to a commercial video game (RCT 1) and to a cognitive-behavioural intervention (RCT 2). In February 2019, I graduated with my dissertation entitled Childhood anxiety prevention: An evaluation of the applied game MindLight. In my spare time, I like to play board games and do bouldering and yoga, and to go cycle racing in the beautiful nature around Nijmegen.

Projects I’ve worked on

  • Category
    Anxiety | Depression
    Date
    19/03/2024
    Study/Course
    Location

    MindLight - Childhood Anxiety Prevention

    About the project

    Many children have difficulties with fearful situations and are anxious. Interventions can help to teach children to cope effectively with anxiety-inducing situations. In our project, we rigorously tested whether an intervention in the form of a video game (MindLight) is effective in significantly reducing anxiety symptoms in children 8-12 years old. We did this by comparing MindLight to 1) a commercial game and 2) the gold-standard, cognitive-behavioural therapy for anxiety (Coping Cat). Furthermore, we evaluated the motivational characteristics of MindLight and for whom (e.g., age and gender differences) it is effective.

    view this project

  • Category
    Anxiety | Depression
    Date
    19/03/2024
    Study/Course
    Location

    Are Improvements in Anxiety Associated with How Children Play MindLight?

    About the project

    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.

    view this project

no future events are set.

My publications

  • 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: Elke Schoneveld

    Upload date: 06-24-2020

  • What Keeps Them Motivated? Children’s Views on an Applied Game for Anxiety

    Schoneveld, E. A., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2019). Entertainment Computing, 29, 69-74.

    Author: Elke Schoneveld

    Upload date: 03-01-2019

  • Childhood Anxiety Prevention: An Evaluation of the Applied Game MindLight [Doctoral Dissertation]

    Schoneveld, E. A. (2019). Doctoral dissertation

    Author: Elke Schoneveld

    Upload date: 02-26-2019

  • 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

  • Preventing Childhood Anxiety Disorders: Is an Applied Game as Effective as a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Based Program?

    Schoneveld, E. A., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2017). Prevention Science, 1-13.

    Author: Elke Schoneveld

    Upload date: 09-27-2017

  • A Neurofeedback Video Game (MindLight) to Prevent Anxiety in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    Schoneveld, E. A., Malmberg, M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., Verheijen, G. P., Engels, R. C., & Granic, I. (2016). Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 321-333.

    Author: Elke Schoneveld

    Upload date: 10-01-2016

  • Elke Schoneveld on Google Scholar

    Games for emotional and mental health

    Author: Elke Schoneveld

    Upload date: 03-19-2024

  • Reductions of Anxiety Symptoms, State Anxiety, and Anxious Arousal in Youth Playing the Videogame MindLight Compared to Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

    Tsui, T. Y., DeFrance, K., Khalid-Khan, S., Granic, I., & Hollenstein, T. (2021). Games for Health Journal, 10(5), 330-338. https://doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2020.0083

    Author: Tiffany Y.L. Tsui

    Upload date: 09-28-2021

  • 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

Worked together with

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Isabela Granic
Director of GEMH Lab

Professor and Chair of the Developmental Psychopathology department in the Behavioural Science Institute; writer; voracious podcast consumer; mother of two upstanding little gamers

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Professor at McMaster's University & Co-founder of PlayNice Interactive

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Aniek Wols
Researcher at GEMH Lab

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.

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PhD-Candidate at Radboud University

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Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff
Collaborator

I am not so interested in *whether* certain interventions work but *how* they work. That is, I am mainly focusing on underlying processes and mechanisms of change across diagnostic categories and different treatment modalities. Mother of two wild boys!

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Professor of Orthopedagogics at University of Groningen

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Geert Verheijen

Researcher with a focus on the social development of teens, interested in the effects of average, day-to-day video game use. enthusiastic board gamer & self-proclaimed institutional champion of Super Smash Brothers.

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PhD-Candidate

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Rutger Engels

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CEO at Trimbos Institute / Professor Developmental Psychopathology Utrecht University

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