A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CASUAL VIDEO GAMES IN REDUCING SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY

Abstract

Anxiety is a natural reaction to stress. However, when anxiety becomes excessive it can develop into a debilitating disorder. Interventions are needed to ameliorate and prevent the development of anxiety related health disorders. Casual video games (CVGs) are fun, easy to play, spontaneous, and extremely popular. In this randomized controlled study the efficacy of CVGs in reducing symptoms of anxiety in a depressed population was tested by comparing individuals in the experimental group, who were prescribed a CVG to utilize over a one month period, with a no-treatment control group. The methodology included participants in the experimental group playing a CVG three times a week for 30 minutes each session, over a one-month period. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used to measure participants' state and trait anxiety pre-post intervention. Results from both state and trait measures demonstrated that the intervention was effective in reducing state and trait anxiety symptom severity scores for the experimental group when compared to the control group. These findings demonstrate the use of prescriptive interventions that utilize CVGs as a way to treat anxiety, as well as, implications that include the potential expansion of applications of CVGs as an adjunct to medicine and other medical therapies being utilized alone.