Um estudo fNIRS sobre o impacto do jogo Energy na ansiedade

Abstract

Interest in the use of video games as a form of intervention in the treatment of mental health problems has increased exponentially, as the positive impact that these interactive games can offer in different conditions is recognized. In addition to actively promote patient engagement, these games provide an innovative form of therapy that combines entertainment with effective therapeutic approaches. Thus, it was hypothesized that certain video games can contribute to the mitigation of anxiety symptoms in players. To test this hypothesis, an experimental protocol was developed using neuroimaging, which was applied to 33 participants, aged between 18 and 38 years. The protocol consisted, in a first phase, the exposure to a stress-inducing test, where participants were asked to respond to a set of mathematical equations in a short space of time. Then, the participants were presented with the mobile phone game, Energy. At the end of each task, participants were also asked to indicate their emotional state using an affective slider. The results showed that participants experienced more positive emotions and greater activation when exposed to Energy compared to the stress-inducing test. In addition, an increase in brain activity was observed during the game. This study not only contributes to the investigation of the efficacy of video games as new innovative forms of intervention in mental health, particularly regarding anxiety disorders, but also contributes to expand the existing knowledge on video game-based interventions.

Date of Award	22 Jan 2025
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Patrícia Oliveira-Silva (Supervisor) & Diana Cristina Rodrigues Pereira (Co-Supervisor)