Professor and Chair of the Developmental Psychopathology department in the Behavioural Science Institute; writer; voracious podcast consumer; mother of two upstanding little gamers
Real science studies and makes accessible that knowledge which people at that period of history think important, and real art transfers this truth from the domain of knowledge to the domain of feelings.
I got my PhD at the University of Toronto in developmental psychology. I am currently a Professor and Chair of the Developmental Psychopathology department in the Behavioural Science Institute at Radboud University, in the Netherlands. My research focuses on the cognitive, emotional and social benefits of playing video games. By integrating clinical and developmental research with interactive media design, we are creating a suite of evidence-based games. These games can be used for intervention purposes, as well as to study emotion-regulation processes more rigorously, in contexts that are motivationally compelling for children. Critically, we are committed to commercially deploying our evidence-based games so that they can be widely disseminated, with unprecedented potential to slash the prevalence rates of anxiety and depression in youth. These same games can make an enormous impact in school settings where socio-emotional learning methods are being sought, yet so few validated games exist.
This project investigates the influences of different aspects of video game play behavior on the adjustment and social relationships of adolescents. In an annual survey, adolescents indicate their well-being and various elements of their video game play behavior (such as their motivation for gaming, type of games played, and the social context in which games are played). The aim of the project is to investigate how average, day-today gaming affects the social development of teens.
Commercial video games may offer a cheap and readily available way to help us understand in what way video games can be used to promote adolescent well-being. Excellent targets for this are games that involve social interaction, encourage both positive and negative emotions and are identified by youth themselves as potentially beneficial. By letting youth play several commercial video games in different settings, we can learn how games interact with well-being and motivation in both short and long-term.
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.
This project explores the potential of using biofeedback video games for anxiety regulation. Specifically, the projects aims to 1) develop and assessing the efficacy of the biofeedback game DEEP, a breath-based biofeedback video game, as an anxiety regulation tool and 2) identify possible determinants of change in biofeedback interventions for anxiety regulation.
Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychopathologies in children. This project investigates the effects of a biofeedback virtual reality game (DEEP) on breathing and anxiety-related symptoms in anxious children and develops new algorithms to detect changes in the player’s behavior during the game. The aim is to enable game interventions that are personalized to each individual child.
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.
Smoking is one of the leading public health problems in the world. In the Netherlands today, still 1 in 4 youth between the ages of 16 and 25 smoke. Even more worrisome is that there are almost no evidence-based interventions available to help them quit smoking. That’s why we, in collaboration with scientists, game designers and smoking youth, developed and tested a game to help youth quit smoking. HitnRun is a mobile game in which you can train your impulse control, and in which you collaborate in teams, support each other’s quit attempts, and compete against other teams.
Because anxiety is an important cause of impairment for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), it is necessary that effective anxiety interventions are implemented for these children. Recently, a serious game called "MindLight" has been developed that is focused on decreasing anxiety in children. It is expected that MindLight is an effective anxiety treatment for children with an autism spectrum disorder.
In my PhD project I study social games for the prevention of depression. In my project I take part in both the development and testing of games. I want to use video games to help youth become more emotionally resilient and to decrease the stigma that surrounds depression. I do this in close collaboration with other researchers and game designers. I am particularly interested in games that are played in a social context, because I believe that both social threat and social support are key factors in the development and maintenance of depression.
This project is focused on assessing the feasibility and effectiveness of a full-body-driven intervention videogame targeted at decreasing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms.
Despite widespread claims that video gaming is harmful for children's social and emotional development, hardly any research has tracked children over time to verify these claims. Moreover, such claims run contrary to the importance which psychologists have given to play. This project aimed to address these matters.
This project strives to create a suite of analog games to be implemented in classrooms. The goal of these games is to improve children's emotional competencies in three domains which past research highlights as being crucial for healthy development: emotion vocabulary, cognitive reappraisal skills, and children's theory of emotion.
Because of the observed overlap between obesity and substance abuse, excessive eating has been termed addictive behavior. We want to investigate whether video games can be used to modify automatic processes involved in eating behavior. The focus of this project is on a positive implicit attitude towards energy-dense food and automatic approach behavior.
Externalizing problems are the main reason youths are referred to residential care. However, often these youths also show co-morbid anxiety. This study aimed to test a videogame intervention (Dojo) that teaches youths relaxation-techiques in order to improve their emotion regulation.
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.
Fast and accurate decision making in threatening situations is vital for police officers on duty. However, under threat, people tend to react impulsively and lack cognitive control. This is why police officers need to train control over their responses to threat as much as possible. To enable this, we develop a virtual training environment with real-time biofeedback. We combine virtual reality and biofeedback to create a personalized, realistic training experience, while honing state-of-the-art technology and psychophysical theory.
Our research aims to transform young people’s mental health by developing and testing a social game for resiliency when facing stress events. Working in collaboration with the Award winning studio Aardman Animations, we want to harness the important mental health implications of both social support and mindsets, to develop a fun and engaging intervention.
People with large social networks on average live longer, happier, less stressed lives. We can potentially leverage video games and virtual spaces to increase the experience of social support and impact daily stress and anxiety. Therefore, this project aims to show that virtual social support can lower stress, and potentially impact stress coping behaviours.
Social media are immensely popular, and - as it happens - a dense source of social information. In this project, we investigate what sort of information and experiences young people encounter on these social media, and how these things relate to their mental wellbeing, as well as how young people's momentary wellbeing relates to their social media behaviours.
Digital media are designed to serve many different functions: socialising, working, building relationships, as well as playing and being entertained. In this project, we seek to understand the impact of different features of digital media, and help youth align what they value and love with what they do on digital platforms, in order to increase wellbeing and coherent identity development.
Great list of streamers (YouTube / Twitch) who’ve opened up about their own mental health challenges. Thanks… https://t.co/nz9DQfZ5a4
RT @Elina_ma: Incredible new directions! #game s supporting #mentalhealth thank you @GEMH_Lab @anouk_tuijnman @yoanneke @AniekWols #eara201…
Go @GEMH_Lab ! Sorry to have missed it. Would love to hear about any new insights from the audience, if you got som… https://t.co/I12M5SjMJn
Congrats to @GEMH_Lab members for getting this experimental paper published: Mental health messages don't turn yout… https://t.co/gqH0SxGD8P
As a lifer in academia, Fall always feels like the real "new year." Come check out what we're up to in the… https://t.co/tTSSMovM8I
As a lifer in academia, Fall always fells like the real "new year." Come check out what we're up to in the… https://t.co/gP4RGtbk7x
RT @NevermindGame: ICYMI, there’s a fantastic new article on @nbcnews about #biofeedback in games - discussing games such as @ @GEMH_Lab’s…
GEMH Lab - Using video games to cope with anxiety and depression - feature by DidYouKnowGaming? | GEMH Lab https://t.co/JeZYLUhVmm
Thanks @didyouknowgamin for highlighting our research on games for emotional and mental health to a your awesome co… https://t.co/qRP8RDjOuI
See, @GEMH_Lab, I'm WORKING on my sabbatical as well as sunning myself on the Canadian lake shores. https://t.co/QvlWgVo0B0
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
prof. dr. Isabela Granic gives a talk at the Serious Games for Cognitive Training Symposium
GEMH Lab will be at the most gigantic developmental conference in the world! Come see talks and posters showcasing our latest research findings.
JPS 2017 this year focuses on the concept “technology", offering an analytic lens that will not become obsolete with the next new widget. We present a generative understanding of technology and human development by scholars with a diverse range of histories, perspectives, and research projects.
The symposium will be held in the renovated building 'Collegium Veteranorum'
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.
Granic, I., Morita, H., & Scholten, H. (2020).
Author: Isabela Granic
Upload date: 02-01-2020
Lobel, A., Gotsis, M., Reynolds, E., Annetta, M., Engels, R. C.M.E., & Granic, I. (2016). CHI'16 Extended Abstracts, May 07-12, 2016, San Jose, CA, USA
Author: Adam Lobel
Upload date: 05-07-2016
van Rooij, M., Lobel, A., Harris, O., Smit, N., & Granic, I. (2016). CHI'16 Extended Abstracts, May 07-12, 2016, San Jose, CA, USA
Author: Marieke van Rooij
Upload date: 05-07-2016
Lobel, A., Gotsis, M., Reynolds, E., Annetta, M., Engels, R.C.M.E., & Granic, I. (2015). ESConS Neurogaming Conference. [Poster presentation].
Author: Adam Lobel
Upload date: 05-05-2015
Lobel, A., Granic, I., & Engels, R. C. (2014). Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17, 222-227.
Author: Adam Lobel
Upload date: 04-03-2014
Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. (2014). American Psychologist, 69, 66-78.
Author: Isabela Granic
Upload date: 01-17-2014
Lobel, A., Engels, R., Tuijnman, A., de Valk, T., & Granic, I. (2013, April). Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, WA.
Author: Adam Lobel
Upload date: 04-15-2013
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
Poppelaars, M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., Kleinjan, M., & Granic, I. (2018). The impact of explicit mental health messages in video games on players’ motivation and affect. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 16-23. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.019
Author: Marlou Poppelaars
Upload date: 07-01-2018
Wols, A., Poppelaars, M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2020). Entertainment Computing, 100371.
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 07-07-2020
Poppelaars, M., Tak, Y. R., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., Engels, R. C. M. E., Lobel, A., Merry, S. N., Lucassen, M. F. G., & Granic, I. (2016). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 80, 33-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2016.03.005
Author: Marlou Poppelaars
Upload date: 05-01-2016
Poppelaars, M., Tak, Y. R., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., Engels, R. C. M. E., Lobel, A., Merry, S. N., Lucassen, M. F. G., & Granic, I. (2014). In Schouten, B., Fedtke, S., Schijven, M., Vosmeer, M. & Gekker, A. (Eds.), Games for Health 2014 (pp. 125-135). Germany: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-07141-7_17
Author: Marlou Poppelaars
Upload date: 10-29-2014
Granic, I., Lobel, A., Poppelaars, M., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2015). Kind en Adolescent, 36 (1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12453-014-0066-8
Author: Marlou Poppelaars
Upload date: 01-22-2015
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
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
Weerdmeester, J., van Rooij, M. M., Engels, R. C., & Granic, I. (2020). Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(7), e14958.
Author: Joanneke Weerdmeester
Upload date: 07-23-2020
Weerdmeester, J., van Rooij, M., Harris, O., Smit, N., Engels, R. C., & Granic, I. (2017, October). Exploring the role of self-efficacy in biofeedback video games. In Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 453-461). ACM.
Author: Joanneke Weerdmeester
Upload date: 10-15-2017
Anxiety disorders are among the most frequently diagnosed mental health problems in children, leading to potentially devastating outcomes on a personal level and high costs for society. Although evidence-based interventions are readily available, their outcomes are often disappointing and variable. In particular, existing interventions are not effective long-term nor tailored to differences in individual responsiveness. We therefore need a new approach to the prevention and treatment of anxiety in children and a commensurate scientific methodology to uncover individual profiles of change. We argue that applied games have a great deal of potential for both. The current paper presents results from a recent pilot study using a biofeedback virtual reality game (DEEP). DEEP integrates established therapeutic principles with an embodied and intuitive learning process towards improved anxiety regulation skills.
Author: Marieke van Rooij
Upload date: 10-10-2016
Schoneveld, E. A., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2019). What keeps them motivated? Children’s views on an applied game for anxiety. Entertainment Computing, 29, 69-74.
Author: Elke Schoneveld
Upload date: 03-01-2019
Schoneveld, E. A. (2019). Childhood anxiety prevention: An evaluation of the applied game MindLight (Doctoral dissertation)
Author: Elke Schoneveld
Upload date: 02-26-2019
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
Schoneveld, E. A., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2017). Prevention Science, 1-13.
Author: Elke Schoneveld
Upload date: 09-27-2017
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
Scholten, H., & Granic, I. (2019). Journal of Medial Internet Research, 21(1), e11528. doi: 10.2196/11528
Author: Hanneke Scholten
Upload date: 06-16-2020
Scholten, H., Granic, I., Chen, Z., Veling, H., & Luijten, M. (2019). Psychology & Health, 34(5), 609-625. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2018.1554184
Author: Hanneke Scholten
Upload date: 01-29-2019
Poppelaars, A., Scholten, H., Granic, I., Veling, H., Johnson-Glenberg, M. C., & Luijten, M. (2018). Appetite, 129, 143-154. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.06.039
Author: Anouk Poppelaars
Upload date: 10-01-2018
Scholten, H., Scheres, A., De Water, E., Graf, U., Granic, I., & Luijten, M. (2019). Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 26, 1803-1849. doi: 10.3758/s13423-019-01629-2
Author: Hanneke Scholten
Upload date: 07-03-2019
Scholten, H., Luijten, M., & Granic, I. (2019). Development and Psychopathology, 31, 1923-1943. doi: 10.1017/S0954579419001378
Author: Hanneke Scholten
Upload date: 06-17-2020
Wijnhoven, L. A. M. W., Creemers, D. H. M., Engels, R. C. M. E., Granic, I. (2015). BMC Psychiatry, 15:138.
Author: Lieke Wijnhoven
Upload date: 07-01-2015
Creemers, D. H. M., Wijnhoven, L. A. M. W., Stikkelbroek, Y. A. J., & Buitelaar, J. K. (2015). Depressie en suïcide. In K. Nijhof & R. C. M. E. Engels (Eds.), Meisjes in zorg: Signalering, preventie en behandeling (pp. 241-272). Amsterdam: Uitgeverij SWP.
Author: Lieke Wijnhoven
Upload date: 05-01-2015
Wijnhoven, L. A. M. W., Creemers, D. H. M., Vermulst, A. A., Scholte, R. H. J., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2013). Randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of a depression prevention program (‘Op Volle Kracht’) among adolescent girls with elevated depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1-12.
Author: Lieke Wijnhoven
Upload date: 07-27-2013
Tuijnman, A., Kleinjan, M., Hoogendoorn, E., Granic, I. & Engels, R.C. (2019) A Game-Based School Program for Mental Health Literacy and Stigma Regarding Depression (Moving Stories): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Researc Protocols, 8(3):e11255, doi: 10.2196/11255
Author: Anouk Tuijnman
Upload date: 03-14-2019
Tuijnman, A., Granic, I., Whitkin, J., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2017). Developing and testing ScrollQuest: A video game targeting rejection sensitivity in adolescents. In CHI PLAY'17 Extended Abstracts: Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 213-221). New York, NY: ACM.
Author: Anouk Tuijnman
Upload date: 10-15-2017
Tuijnman, A. & Weerdmeester, J. (2017) Current Opportunities in Research and Development of Games for Mental Health. CHI PLAY, October 15 - 18, 2017, Amsterdam.
Author: Anouk Tuijnman
Upload date: 10-15-2017
Weerdmeester, J., Cima, M., Granic, I., Hashemian, Y., & Gotsis, M. (2016). A Feasibility Study on the Effectiveness of a Full-Body Videogame Intervention for Decreasing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms. Games for Health Journal, 5(4), 258-269.
Author: Joanneke Weerdmeester
Upload date: 08-01-2016
Lobel, A., Engels, R. C.M.E., Stone, L. L., Burk, W., & Granic, I. (2017). 46, 884-897.
Author: Adam Lobel
Upload date: 02-21-2017
Lobel, A., Granic, I., Stone, L. L., & Engels, R. C.M.E. (2014). Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17, 639-643
Author: Adam Lobel
Upload date: 10-01-2014
Alblas, E. E., Folkvord, F., Anschutz, D. J., Ketelaar, P. E., Granic, I., Mensink, F., Buijzen, M. & van 't Riet, J. P. (2017). User Statistics for an Online Health Game Targeted at Children. Games Health J, 6(5), 319-325. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2016.0114
Author: Eva Alblas
Upload date: 11-16-2017
Van 't Riet, J., Alblas, E., Crutzen, R., & Lu, A. (2015). Handbook of Research on Holistic Perspectives in Gamification for Clinical Practice (pp. 277-292). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Author: Eva Alblas
Upload date: 11-01-2015
Schuurmans, A. T., Nijhof, K. S., Vermaes, I. P. R., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Granic, I. (2015). “Dojo”: a Videogame Intervention for Youths with Externalizing Problems and Anxiety. A Pilot Study. Games for Health Journal, 4, 401-408.
Author: Angela Schuurmans
Upload date: 10-01-2015
Wols, A., Hollenstein, T., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2019). https://osf.io/6gmwv
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 07-05-2019
Griffioen, N., Van Rooij, M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2020). A Stimulated Recall Method for the Improved Assessment of Quantity and Quality of Social Media Use. J Med Internet Res 2020;22(1):e15529.
Author: Nastasia Griffioen
Upload date: 01-28-2020