ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2023
The Grow It! app-longitudinal changes in adolescent well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: a proof-of-concept study.
Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Personalization variables in digital mental health interventions for depression and anxiety in adolescents and youth: a scoping review.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Pooled it
- Video and App-Based Games for Youth Emotion Regulation: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Young people's compliance with the Experience Sampling Method (ESM): Examining patterns, predictors and associations with well-being and mental health.Internet interventions · 2025Article
- From Burden to Enjoyment: A User-Centered Approach to Engage Adolescents in Intensive Longitudinal Research.Journal of adolescence · 2025Review
- Digital Mental Health Interventions for Young People Aged 16-25 Years: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- A scoping review of digital interventions for the promotion of mental health and prevention of mental health conditions for young people.Oxford open digital health · 2025Review
- Promoting Well-Being from a Gender Perspective: A Systematic Review of Interventions Using Digital Tools and Serious Games.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- The Mood and Resilience in Offspring (MARIO) project: a longitudinal cohort study among offspring of parents with and without a mood disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2024Observational
- Child and adolescent psychiatry in the post-COVID era: lessons learned and consequences for the future.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2023Article
- Promoting Daily Well-being in Adolescents using mHealth.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2022Article
- A Smartphone Serious Game for Adolescents (Grow It! App): Development, Feasibility, and Acceptance Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Article
- Effective elements of eHealth interventions for mental health and well-being in children and adolescents: A systematic review.Digital healthReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Adolescent mental health and well-being have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this preregistered longitudinal study, we evaluated whether adolescents' well-being improved after playing the multiplayer serious game app Grow It! During the first lockdown (May-June 2020), 1282 Dutch adolescents played the Grow It! app (age = 16.67, SD = 3.07, 68% girls). During the second lockdown (December-May 2020 onwards), an independent cohort of 1871 adolescents participated (age = 18.66, SD = 3.70, 81% girls). Adolescents answered online questionnaires regarding affective and cognitive well-being, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and impact of COVID-19 at baseline. Three to six weeks later, the baseline questionnaire was repeated and user experience questions were asked (N = 462 and N = 733 for the first and second cohort). In both cohorts, affective and cognitive well-being increased after playing the Grow It! app (t = - 6.806, p < 0.001; t = - 6.77, p < 0.001; t = - 6.12, p < 0.001; t = - 5.93, p < 0.001; Cohen's d range 0.20-0.32). At the individual level, 41-53% of the adolescents increased in their affective or cognitive well-being. Adolescents with higher risk profiles (i.e., more depressive symptoms, lower atmosphere at home, and more COVID-19 impact) improved more strongly in their well-being. Positive user evaluations and app engagement were unrelated to changes in affective and cognitive well-being. This proof-of-concept study tentatively suggests that Grow It! supported adolescents during the pandemic.
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Registered trials
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