Effect of a Serious Game (Stigma-Stop) on Reducing Stigma Among Psychology Students: A Controlled Study

Analysis of the Usefulness of a Serious Game to Raise Awareness about Mental Health Problems in a Sample of High School and University Students: Relationship with Familiarity and Time Spent Playing Video Games

“…After applying Stigma Stop to a sample consisting of both high school and university students, it was confirmed, as in previous studies [15,16], that the serious game helped to reduce stigma in the total sample, this reduction did not occur in the control group. The stigma factor that was most sensitive to these changes was the variable social distance, while the decrease was less for the variable stereotypes.…”

“…Thus, the control group was comprised of 118 students and the experimental group was comprised of 412 students. The experimental group was intentionally made larger than the control group, so more students could benefit from the intervention and because in previous studies we found that the responses of the control group were very stable [15,16]. Thus, the classes were randomly distributed: first, a class became a control group, then the next three were assigned to the experimental group, the next was designated as a control group and so on.…”

“…(i.e., secondary school and baccalaureate studies) between the ages of 14 and 18 [15]. In addition, with psychology students, it has been shown to be slightly superior in some dimensions to a talk by professionals and equivalent to a life history by mental health users [16]. However, secondary school and university students have not been compared jointly to determine whether significant differences exist between the two groups.…”

Acquisition of Learning and Empathy Towards Patients in Nursing Students Through Online Escape Room: An Exploratory Qualitative Study

“…The ability to empathize and be sensitive to people with severe mental disorders is important for students in the social and health area as future professionals who will deal with these patients. 30 Little research has been done to address stigma awareness in university students with playful strategies, 22 so this work makes an important contribution to this growing field of research by reporting a success case in which a such an escape room in a higher education setting.…”

“…Recently, it has been investigated that virtual reality and serious gaming could be beneficial to reduce stigma. For example, Stigma-Stop 22,23 is a virtual game whose purpose is to sensitize participants about serious mental disorder. Participants must network and collaborate with 4 characters with SMI to win the game.…”