Could specially designed video games benefit the mental health of children and teenagers?

That’s the question that guided a recent review of previous studies led by Barry Bryant, a resident in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Johns Hopkins adolescent psychologist Joseph McGuire.

The investigators’ review came in response to concerning trends in mental health problems among today’s youth. An estimated 20% of children and teenagers between the ages of 3 and 17 in the U.S. have a mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorder. Suicidal behaviors among high school students also increased by more than 40% in the 10 years prior to 2019, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Other studies show that the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruptions worsened these trends.

While research suggests parents and caregivers are seeking out mental health care for children, wait times for appointments have increased.

“We found literature that suggests that even doubling the number of pediatric mental health providers still wouldn’t meet the need,” says Bryant, first author of the new study, which appeared in JAMA Pediatrics.

In a bid to determine if so-called “gamified digital mental health interventions,” or video games designed to treat mental health conditions, benefited those with anxiety, depression and ADHD, the research team analyzed their use in randomized clinical trials for children and adolescents.

Bryant and McGuire identified 27 such trials from the U.S. and around the world. The studies overall included 2,911 participants, with about half being boys and half being girls, between the ages of 6 and 17 years old.

The digital interventions varied in content but were all created with the intent of treating ADHD, depression and anxiety. For example, for depression and anxiety, some of the interventions taught psychotherapy-oriented concepts in a game format. 

The researchers found that video games designed for patients with ADHD and depression provided a modest reduction in symptoms, such as improved ability to sustain attention and decreased sadness, based on participant and family feedback from the studies. By contrast, video games designed for anxiety did not show meaningful benefits for reducing anxiety symptoms for participants.

“While the benefits are still modest, our research shows that we have some novel tools to help improve children’s mental health — particularly for ADHD and depression — that can be relatively accessible to families,” says McGuire. “So if you are a pediatrician and you’re having trouble getting your pediatric patient into individual mental health care, there could be some gamified mental health interventions that could be nice first steps for children while waiting to start individual therapy.”