(PS3-11) Effects of Feedback on Symptoms in a Game-based Brief Intervention

Abstract Text: Human behavior can influence mood and anxiety. Interventions like behavioral activation or acceptance and commitment therapy are, in part, based in this relationship. One theory suggests that mood-incongruent positive behaviors are effective at improving mood and reducing negative affect and increasing positive. This may even be the case in people experiencing normal low mood, and not simply for individuals who are currently depressed. Additionally, recent research suggests that online interventions may help with symptoms of depression and anxiety, especially when they provide participants with new information or new ways of thinking. In this study, I created a brief game in the online experiment builder Gorilla to give participants the opportunity to make decisions about their days. Any adult in the United States was eligible to participate. Participants navigated through a story while making binary decisions. Some participants also received encouraging feedback following certain activities in the game. I assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety before the game and at a one-week follow-up. I recruited participants (n = 235) from Prolific; the plurality identified as women (47%), white (52%), and non-Hispanic (90%). Mean age was 28.4. I preregistered analyses, which I conducted using ANOVAs and mixed-effects models comparing change over time between conditions. Across conditions, all participants reported reductions in stress and anxiety at follow-up. However, there was no effect of condition on symptom reduction; participants who received positive feedback did not report reduced negative affect. Follow-up studies may wish to focus on clinical populations to see if expected effects are limited to individuals suffering from severely low mood. They may also wish to increase the strength of such interventions beyond brief feedback, into a more thorough intervention. Clinical interventions may also show evidence of online adjunctive treatments.