Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Background: Inuit 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 In...
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Online Access: | https://oro.open.ac.uk/88115/ https://oro.open.ac.uk/88115/1/88115.pdf https://doi.org/10.2196/38493 |
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ftopenunivgb:oai:oro.open.ac.uk:88115 2023-06-11T04:13:18+02:00 Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Bohr, Yvonne Litwin, Leah Hankey, Jeffrey Ryan McCague, Hugh Singoorie, Chelsea Lucassen, Mathijs F. G. Shepherd, Matthew Barnhardt, Jenna 2023-03-09 application/pdf https://oro.open.ac.uk/88115/ https://oro.open.ac.uk/88115/1/88115.pdf https://doi.org/10.2196/38493 unknown https://oro.open.ac.uk/88115/1/88115.pdf Bohr, Yvonne; Litwin, Leah; Hankey, Jeffrey Ryan; McCague, Hugh; Singoorie, Chelsea; Lucassen, Mathijs F. G. <http://oro.open.ac.uk/view/person/ml8646.html>; Shepherd, Matthew and Barnhardt, Jenna (2023). Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Serious Games, 11, article no. e38493. Journal Item Public PeerReviewed 2023 ftopenunivgb https://doi.org/10.2196/38493 2023-05-28T06:08:50Z Background: Inuit 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. Objective: This 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. Methods: The 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. Results: Mixed 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. Conclusions: Preliminary results ... Article in Journal/Newspaper inuit Nunavut The Open University: Open Research Online (ORO) Canada New Zealand Nunavut JMIR Serious Games 11 e38493 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The Open University: Open Research Online (ORO) |
op_collection_id |
ftopenunivgb |
language |
unknown |
description |
Background: Inuit 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. Objective: This 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. Methods: The 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. Results: Mixed 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. Conclusions: Preliminary results ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bohr, Yvonne Litwin, Leah Hankey, Jeffrey Ryan McCague, Hugh Singoorie, Chelsea Lucassen, Mathijs F. G. Shepherd, Matthew Barnhardt, Jenna |
spellingShingle |
Bohr, Yvonne Litwin, Leah Hankey, Jeffrey Ryan McCague, Hugh Singoorie, Chelsea Lucassen, Mathijs F. G. Shepherd, Matthew Barnhardt, Jenna Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
author_facet |
Bohr, Yvonne Litwin, Leah Hankey, Jeffrey Ryan McCague, Hugh Singoorie, Chelsea Lucassen, Mathijs F. G. Shepherd, Matthew Barnhardt, Jenna |
author_sort |
Bohr, Yvonne |
title |
Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
title_short |
Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
title_full |
Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
title_fullStr |
Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial |
title_sort |
evaluating the utility of a psychoeducational serious game (sparx) in protecting inuit youth from depression: pilot randomized controlled trial |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://oro.open.ac.uk/88115/ https://oro.open.ac.uk/88115/1/88115.pdf https://doi.org/10.2196/38493 |
geographic |
Canada New Zealand Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Canada New Zealand Nunavut |
genre |
inuit Nunavut |
genre_facet |
inuit Nunavut |
op_relation |
https://oro.open.ac.uk/88115/1/88115.pdf Bohr, Yvonne; Litwin, Leah; Hankey, Jeffrey Ryan; McCague, Hugh; Singoorie, Chelsea; Lucassen, Mathijs F. G. <http://oro.open.ac.uk/view/person/ml8646.html>; Shepherd, Matthew and Barnhardt, Jenna (2023). Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Serious Games, 11, article no. e38493. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2196/38493 |
container_title |
JMIR Serious Games |
container_volume |
11 |
container_start_page |
e38493 |
_version_ |
1768390135294984192 |