No evidence of increased gaming-related problems with long-term use of a video game therapeutic: Exploratory endpoint findings from a randomized controlled trial.

Lauri Lukka, Joonas J Juvonen, Satu Palva, Erkki Isometsä, J Matias Palva

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Internet interventions, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Lauri LukkaDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.

Joonas J JuvonenDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.

Satu PalvaNeuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Erkki IsometsäDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.

J Matias PalvaDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Digital therapeutics for mental health often face low patient engagement, which limits their clinical impact. Interventions that deliver treatment using a video game medium may improve engagement and therapeutic efficacy, but the potential emergence of gaming-related problems remains a safety question and a concern among clinical stakeholders. We examined whether long-term adjunctive use of the video game therapeutic Meliora was associated with changes in gaming-related problems in a three-arm randomized controlled trial. Participants were adults with interview-confirmed major depressive disorder without significant gaming or gambling problems at baseline. The intention-to-treat cohort (

Indexed as

DepressionDigital therapeuticsExecutive functions trainingGaming addictionMental healthSerious gamesVideo games

Identifiers

PMID42840913

DOI10.1016/j.invent.2026.101000

PMCPMC13639965

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.