Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

• Published in: JMIR Serious Games
• Main Authors: Yvonne Bohr, Leah Litwin, Jeffrey Ryan Hankey, Hugh McCague, Chelsea Singoorie, Mathijs F G Lucassen, Matthew Shepherd, Jenna Barnhardt
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: JMIR Publications 2023
• Subjects: Information technology; T58.5-58.64; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Canada; New Zealand; Nunavut; inuit
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.2196/38493; https://doaj.org/article/233402d1f58741399915e30915adba9b

BackgroundInuit youth in Northern Canada show considerable resilience in the face of extreme adversities. However, they also experience significant mental health needs and some of the highest adolescent suicide rates in the world. Disproportionate rates of truancy, depression, and suicide among Inuit adolescents have captured the attention of all levels of government and the country. Inuit communities have expressed an urgent imperative to create, or adapt, and then evaluate prevention and intervention tools for mental health. These tools should build upon existing strengths, be culturally appropriate for Inuit communities, and be accessible and sustainable in Northern contexts, where mental health resources are often scarce. ObjectiveThis pilot study assesses the utility, for Inuit youth in Canada, of a psychoeducational e-intervention designed to teach cognitive behavioral therapy strategies and techniques. This serious game, SPARX, had previously demonstrated effectiveness in addressing depression with Māori youth in New Zealand. MethodsThe Nunavut Territorial Department of Health sponsored this study, and a team of Nunavut-based community mental health staff facilitated youth’s participation in an entirely remotely administered pilot trial using a modified randomized control approach with 24 youths aged 13-18 across 11 communities in Nunavut. These youth had been identified by the community facilitators as exhibiting low mood, negative affect, depressive presentations, or significant levels of stress. Entire communities, instead of individual youth, were randomly assigned to an intervention group or a waitlist control group. ResultsMixed models (multilevel regression) revealed that participating youth felt less hopeless (P=.02) and engaged in less self-blame (P=.03), rumination (P=.04), and catastrophizing (P=.03) following the SPARX intervention. However, participants did not show a decrease in depressive symptoms or an increase in formal resilience indicators. ConclusionsPreliminary results suggest that ...