ArticleMultimedia tools and applications2024
Smartphone-based serious games for mental health: a scoping review.
Article in Multimedia tools and applications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Personalized and Smartphone-Based Serious Gaming App Targeting Cognitive Impairments in Alcohol Use Disorder: Double-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial Among Outpatients.JMIR mental health · 2025Trial
- Mental Health Professionals' Views on Gaming to Inform Game-Based Interventions: Qualitative Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR serious games · 2026Article
- Research Design Processes in Serious Games for Adolescent Mental Health: Systematic Review.JMIR serious games · 2026Review
- Digital psychoeducational rehabilitation supported by serious games for psychiatric inpatients: a protocol study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Does body image dissatisfaction exacerbate smartphone addiction among Chinese college students?Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- An in-depth understanding of stakeholders' experiences about their participation in the co-production of 'Maze Out': a serious game for the treatment of eating disorders.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The use of smartphone-based Serious Games in mental health care is an emerging and promising research field. Combining the intrinsic characteristics of games (e.g., interactiveness, immersiveness, playfulness, user-tailoring and engaging nature) with the capabilities of smartphones (e.g., versatility, ubiquitous connectivity, built-in sensors and anywhere-anytime nature) yields great potential to deliver innovative psychological treatments, which are engaging, effective, fun and always available. This article presents a scoping review, based on the PRISMA (scoping review extension) guidelines, of the field of smartphone-based serious games for mental health care. The review combines an analysis of the technical characteristics, including game design, smartphone and game-specific features, with psychological dimensions, including type and purpose of use, underlying psychological frameworks and strategies. It also explores the integration of psychological features into Serious Games and summarizes the findings of evaluations performed. A systematic search identified 40 smartphone-based Serious Games for mental health care. The majority consist of standalone and self-administrable interventions, applying a myriad of psychological strategies to address a wide range of psychological symptoms and disorders. The findings explore the potential of Serious Games as treatments and for enhancing patient engagement; we conclude by proposing several avenues for future research in order to identify best practices and success factors. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11042-024-18971-w.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.