Tom Hollensteinonline
Short bio
Associate Professor in Developmental Psychology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Top-3 games
- Chess
- Journey
- Everything
About me
I am specializing in adolescent emotional development, emotion regulation, dynamic systems, state space grids, observational methods, and psychophysiology. PI on studies of MindLight in Canada.. Currently I am working on rectifying process and strategy accounts of emotion regulation, concordance across appraisal, expressive, and physiological arousal during emotion, testing the social baseline hypothesis of adolescence, the impact of mindsets on socioemotional functioning, and nested time scales of real-time emotions within day-to-day functioning across developmental time. My interest in gaming is as a research tool to tap into theorized mechanisms of emotion regulation, and of course to improve children's lives.
Projects I’ve worked on
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CategoryAnxietyDate26/05/2022Study/CourseLocation
MindLight - Childhood Anxiety Prevention
About the projectMany 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.
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CategoryResilienceDate26/05/2022Study/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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@Tom Hollenstein - 22-07-2020
RT @Gryphire: New tiny @GEMH_Lab blog online about the new @APA journal "Technology, Mind, and Behavior"! Thanks to @PlayNiceInst, and @b…
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@Tom Hollenstein - 15-07-2020
RT @PlayNiceInst: We’re hiring @GEMH_Lab . See below. RTs super appreciated (@briecode @unthank @GrowingUpGaming @whatstheii @TheAnnaGat )…
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@Tom Hollenstein - 08-07-2020
RT @PlayNiceInst: Super excited to participate on the Technology, Mind, & Behavior panel w/ my esteemed colleagues. Attend the symposium fo…
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@Tom Hollenstein - 30-06-2020
RT @PlayNiceInst: New study just out! MindLight, our neurofeedback video game that @GEMH_Lab showed works as well as cognitive-behavioural…
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@Tom Hollenstein - 30-06-2020
RT @Gryphire: @PlayNiceInst @RobertHaisfield @GEMH_Lab As researchers, we are uniquely equipped to provide the user with organised and cohe…
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@Tom Hollenstein - 30-06-2020
RT @PlayNiceInst: @RobertHaisfield We think about this a lot, but start from the human psychology, not the app side, and build out from the…
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@Tom Hollenstein - 24-06-2020
Fantastic paper, @Gryphire @PlayNiceInst @GEMH_Lab! You wrote paper I wanted to read but thought I had to write… https://t.co/wlprYxXiXF
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@Tom Hollenstein - 24-06-2020
Fantastic paper, @Gryphire @PlayNiceInst @GEMH_Lab ! You wrote paper I wanted to read but thought I had to write… https://t.co/B3qVFiLfVE
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@Tom Hollenstein - 15-06-2020
RT @PlayNiceInst: We’re diving much deeper into our next set of studies on tech for emotional & mental health in @GEMH_Lab, applying a set…
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@Tom Hollenstein - 11-06-2020
RT @AniekWols: Why should we hide it? "Video games aiming to improve mental health may benefit from promoting the game’s mental health ben…
Events View all events
My publications
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The Effect of Expectations on Experiences and Engagement with an Applied Game for Mental Health
Wols, A., Hollenstein, T., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic (2021). Games for Health, 10(4), 207-219.
Author: Aniek Wols
Upload date: 08-09-2021
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What Keeps Them Motivated? Children’s Views on an Applied Game for Anxiety
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
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Childhood anxiety prevention: An evaluation of the applied game MindLight
Schoneveld, E. A. (2019). Childhood anxiety prevention: An evaluation of the applied game MindLight (Doctoral dissertation)
Author: Elke Schoneveld
Upload date: 02-26-2019
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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
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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
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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
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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
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
Rutger Engels
CEO at Trimbos Institute / Professor Developmental Psychopathology Utrecht University