Internet Gaming Disorder in Adolescents: Personality, Psychopathology and Evaluation of a Psychological Intervention Combined With Parent Psychoeducation.

Internet Gaming Disorder is an increasingly prevalent disorder, which can have severe consequences in affected young people and in their families. There is an urgent need to improve existing treatment programs; these are currently hampered by the lack of research in this area. It is necessary to more carefully define the symptomatic, psychosocial and personality characterization of these patients and the interaction between treatment and relevant variables. The objectives of this study were three: (1) to analyze the symptomatic and personality profiles of young patients with Internet Gaming Disorder in comparison with healthy controls; (2) to analyze the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral treatment on reducing symptomatology; and (3) to compare the results of that treatment with or without the addition of a psychoeducational group offered to the parents. The final sample consisted of 30 patients consecutively admitted to a specialized mental health unit in Spain, and 30 healthy controls. The experimental group received individual cognitive-behavioral therapy. The experimental group was divided into two subgroups (N = 15), depending on the addition or not of a psychoeducational group for their parents (consecutively admitted). Scores on the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MACI), the Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R), the State-Trait Anxiety Index (STAI), and other clinical and psychopathological measures were recorded. The patients were re-assessed post treatment (except for the MACI questionnaire). Compared with healthy controls, patients did not differ in symptomatology at baseline, but scored significantly higher in the personality scales: Introversive and Inhibited, and in the expressed concerns scales: Identity Confusion, Self-Devaluation, and Peer Insecurity and scored significantly lower in the Histrionic and Egotistic scale. In the experimental group, pre-post changes differed statistically on SCL-90-R scales Hostility, Psychoticism, and Global Severity Index and on the diagnostic criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder, regardless of the addition of a psychoeducational group for parents. Pre-post changes did not differ between experimental subgroups. However, the subgroup without psychoeducation for parents presented statistically higher drop-out rates during treatment. The results of this study are based on a sample of patients seeking treatment related to problems with online gaming, therefore, they may be of value for similar patients.

A Serious Videogame as an Additional Therapy Tool for Training Emotional Regulation and Impulsivity Control in Severe Gambling Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Gambling disorder (GD) is characterized by a significant lack of self-control and is associated with impulsivity-related personality traits. It is also linked to deficits in emotional regulation and frequently co-occurs with anxiety and depression symptoms. There is also evidence that emotional dysregulation may play a mediatory role between GD and psychopathological symptomatology. Few studies have reported the outcomes of psychological interventions that specifically address these underlying processes. OBJECTIVES: To assess the utility of the Playmancer platform, a serious video game, as an additional therapy tool in a CBT intervention for GD, and to estimate pre-post changes in measures of impulsivity, anger expression and psychopathological symptomatology. METHOD: The sample comprised a single group of 16 male treatment-seeking individuals with severe GD diagnosis. Therapy intervention consisted of 16 group weekly CBT sessions and, concurrently, 10 additional weekly sessions of a serious video game. Pre-post treatment scores on South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), I7 Impulsiveness Questionnaire (I7), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory 2 (STAXI-2), Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S-T), and Novelty Seeking from the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) were compared. RESULTS: After the intervention, significant changes were observed in several measures of impulsivity, anger expression and other psychopathological symptoms. Dropout and relapse rates during treatment were similar to those described in the literature for CBT. CONCLUSION: Complementing CBT interventions for GD with a specific therapy approach like a serious video game might be helpful in addressing certain underlying factors which are usually difficult to change, including impulsivity and anger expression.

The Use of Videogames as Complementary Therapeutic Tool for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Bulimia Nervosa Patients.

Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been demonstrated to be the most effective approach for the treatment of bulimia nervosa (BN), there is lack of studies showing whether a combination with a serious video game (SVG) might be useful to enhance patients' emotional regulation capacities and general outcome. The aims of this study were (a) to analyze whether outpatient CBT + SVG, when compared with outpatient CBT - SVG, shows better short-term outcome; (b) to examine whether the CBT + SVG group is more effective in reducing emotional expression and levels of anxiety than CBT - SVG. Thirty-eight patients diagnosed as having BN according to DSM-5 criteria were consecutively assigned to two outpatient group therapy conditions (that lasted for 16 weekly sessions): 20 CBT + SVG versus 18 CBT - SVG. Patients were assessed before and after treatment using not only a food and binging/purging diary and clinical questionnaires in the field of eating disorders but also additional indexes for measuring anger expression and anxiety. Regarding the post-treatment psychometric measures, most of the mean differences (Eating Disorder Inventory-2, Symptom Checklist-Revised, State-Trait Anxiety Index, and partially State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory) achieved moderate to high effect size (d > 0.5), in the sense that CBT + SVG obtained the best results compared with the CBT - SVG group. Regarding therapy outcome (dropout, partial remission, and total remission), CBT + SVG showed better results and a moderate effect size emerged for the comparison of the risk of dropout during the treatment, being higher for CBT - SVG compared with CBT + SVG (44.1 percent versus 20.0 percent, d = 0.54). Although the sample size in our study was low, and consequently results should be considered with caution, we have obtained promising findings suggesting that in the short-term CBT + SVG might be a good option not only for improving emotional dysregulation and approaching the current limitations of CBT - SVG in BN but also for enhancing the therapy adherence of patients.

Can an intervention based on a serious videogame prior to cognitive behavioral therapy be helpful in bulimia nervosa? A clinical case study.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have highlighted the implications of impulsivity and novelty seeking for both the maintenance and the process of recovery from bulimia nervosa (BN). Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the treatment of choice for BN, but for some cases, this treatment alone might not be sufficient for reducing the high levels of impulsivity. The paper presents a case report of a patient with BN, examining the effectiveness of using a videogame (VG; Playmancer) as an additional intervention designed to address impulsivity. DESIGN: Psychometric and neuropsychological measures were collected at baseline. After this assessment, Playmancer was applied prior to CBT, following an "A-B-A-C-A" single case experimental design. Impulsivity levels were assessed with the Conner's Continuous Performance Test II (CPT-II). After the Playmancer treatment, the patient started CBT, and the levels of impulsivity were recorded again. Finally, psychometric and neuropsychological measures were collected after treatment. Weekly frequency of binges and vomiting were also recorded during the entire procedure. RESULTS: After the VG intervention, psychometric measures such as anxiety levels, impulsivity and novelty seeking decreased. Regarding the neuropsychological measures, impulsivity levels (measured with the CPT-II) progressively decreased throughout the intervention, and an improvement in decision making capacities was observed. Furthermore, the frequency of binges also decreased during and after the VG intervention. DISCUSSION: This case report suggests that using the Playmancer VG to reduce impulsivity prior to CBT may enhance the final results of the treatment for BN.

Physiological and brain activity after a combined cognitive behavioral treatment plus video game therapy for emotional regulation in bulimia nervosa: a case report.

BACKGROUND: PlayMancer is a video game designed to increase emotional regulation and reduce general impulsive behaviors, by training to decrease arousal and improve decision-making and planning. We have previously demonstrated the usefulness of PlayMancer in reducing impulsivity and improving emotional regulation in bulimia nervosa (BN) patients. However, whether these improvements are actually translated into brain changes remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this case study was to report on a 28-year-old Spanish woman with BN, and to examine changes in physiological variables and brain activity after a combined treatment of video game therapy (VGT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). METHODS: Ten VGT sessions were carried out on a weekly basis. Anxiety, physiological, and impulsivity measurements were recorded. The patient was scanned in a 1.5-T magnetic resonance scanner, prior to and after the 10-week VGT/CBT combined treatment, using two paradigms: (1) an emotional face-matching task, and (2) a multi-source interference task (MSIT). RESULTS: Upon completing the treatment, a decrease in average heart rate was observed. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results indicated a post-treatment reduction in reaction time along with high accuracy. The patient engaged areas typically active in healthy controls, although the cluster extension of the active areas decreased after the combined treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a global improvement in emotional regulation and impulsivity control after the VGT therapy in BN, demonstrated by both physiological and neural changes. These promising results suggest that a combined treatment of CBT and VGT might lead to functional cerebral changes that ultimately translate into better cognitive and emotional performances.

Video game therapy for emotional regulation and impulsivity control in a series of treated cases with bulimia nervosa.

Although standard psychological treatments have been successful in treating several core features in eating disorders (ED), other characteristics such as emotional regulation or impulsivity appear to be more resistant to change. There is a growing body of evidence to support the efficacy of cognitive remediation for cognitive and emotional difficulties in ED. Playmancer/ Islands is a video game (VG) designed to specifically treat mental disorders, characterized by problems in impulse control. The objective of the game is to increase self-control over emotions, decision making and behaviours. The aim of this study is to describe the results from a consecutive series of nine bulimia nervosa patients who were treated with the VG in addition to cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). The outcomes included clinical and psychopathological questionnaires, and physiological measures were obtained during the VG. Emotional regulation improved, heart rate variability increased, and respiratory rate and impulsivity measures reduced after the treatment. These findings suggest that VG training may enhance treatment for ED.

The facial and subjective emotional reaction in response to a video game designed to train emotional regulation (Playmancer).

Several aspects of social and emotional functioning are abnormal in people with eating disorders. The aim of the present study was to measure facial emotional expression in patients with eating disorders and healthy controls whilst playing a therapeutic video game (Playmancer) designed to train individuals in emotional regulation. Participants were 23 ED patients (11 AN, 12 BN) and 11 HCs. ED patients self reported more anger at baseline but expressed less facial expression of anger during the Playmancer game. The discrepancy between self-report and non-verbal expression may lead to problems in social communication.

Video games as a complementary therapy tool in mental disorders: PlayMancer, a European multicentre study.

BACKGROUND: Previous review studies have suggested that computer games can serve as an alternative or additional form of treatment in several areas (schizophrenia, asthma or motor rehabilitation). Although several naturalistic studies have been conducted showing the usefulness of serious video games in the treatment of some abnormal behaviours, there is a lack of serious games specially designed for treating mental disorders. AIM: The purpose of our project was to develop and evaluate a serious video game designed to remediate attitudinal, behavioural and emotional processes of patients with impulse-related disorders. METHOD AND RESULTS: The video game was created and developed within the European research project PlayMancer. It aims to prove potential capacity to change underlying attitudinal, behavioural and emotional processes of patients with impulse-related disorders. New interaction modes were provided by newly developed components, such as emotion recognition from speech, face and physiological reactions, while specific impulsive reactions were elicited. The video game uses biofeedback for helping patients to learn relaxation skills, acquire better self-control strategies and develop new emotional regulation strategies. In this article, we present a description of the video game used, rationale, user requirements, usability and preliminary data, in several mental disorders.

Does exposure and response prevention improve the results of group cognitive-behavioural therapy for male slot machine pathological gamblers?

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) seems to offer effective treatment for pathological gambling (PG). However, it has not yet been established which techniques yield the best results, or whether exposure and response prevention (ERP) techniques are of additional use. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate clinical and socio-demographic characteristics of a PG sample at baseline, comparing cognitive-behavioural group intervention, with and without exposure, with response prevention (CBT + ERP vs. CBT), to compare the results of therapy and to assess pre-post changes in psychopathology between both groups. DESIGN: We applied a quasi-experimental design comprising intervention on the independent variable, but without random assignment. METHODS: The sample comprised 502 males with PG, consecutively admitted to a specialist unit, who received standardized outpatient CBT group therapy in 16 weekly sessions. Scores on the Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R), the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R), the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), and other clinical and psychopathological scales were recorded. RESULTS: Pre-post changes did not differ between groups, except for SCL paranoid ideation, being greater in the CBT therapy group. The risk of relapse during treatment was similar in the CBT + ERP and CBT patients. However, compliance with treatment was poorer in the CBT + ERP group, who presented higher drop-out rates during treatment. Drop-out during therapy was associated with shorter disorder duration and higher scores on the TCI-R novelty seeking scale. CONCLUSIONS: Although the two CBT programs elicited similar therapy responses, patients receiving CBT alone showed higher adherence to therapy and lower drop-out rates.

Suicide attempts in anorexia nervosa subtypes.

OBJECTIVE: The risk for suicide attempts is elevated in anorexia nervosa (AN), yet we know little about the relation between suicide and personality in this group. We explored the prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts in women with AN and compared those who had and had not attempted suicide on eating disorder symptoms, general psychopathology, and personality both relative to a healthy control group and then across AN subtypes. METHOD: One hundred four outpatients with restricting AN, 68 outpatients with purging AN, and 146 comparison individuals participated in the study. RESULTS: The prevalence of suicide attempts differed significantly across the 3 groups (P = .003), with 0% in the controls, 8.65% in the restricting AN group, and 25.0% in the purging AN group. Depression measures were elevated in those with suicide attempts. Within the restricting AN group, those who attempted suicide scored significantly higher on Phobic Anxiety, measured by means of the Symptom Checklist-Revised, than those who did not (P = .001). CONCLUSION: The presence of purging and depressive symptoms in individuals with AN should increase vigilance for suicidality; and among restrictors, greater anxiety may index greater suicide risk.

Playmancer project: a serious videogame as an additional therapy tool for eating and impulse control disorders.

Reviews and few non-controlled studies showed the effectiveness of several specific designed computer video-games as an additional form of treatment in several areas. However, there is a lack in the literature of specially designed serious-games for treating mental disorders. Playmancer (ICT European initiative) aims to develop and assess a serious videogame that may help to treat underlying processes (e.g. lack of self-control strategies) in Eating and Impulse control disorders. Preliminary data will be shown.