Serious Games Supporting the Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Consumption in Youth: Scoping Review

Abstract

Background The consumption of alcohol and drugs, particularly in adolescents and young adults, has increased worldwide in the last several years, representing a significant public health challenge. Serious games have the potential to support preventive and treatment interventions for substance use, facilitating the acquisition of relevant knowledge and the motivation for changes in attitudes and behaviors regarding substance consumption. Objective This scoping review aims to analyze a set of 7 relevant characteristics of current serious games designed to support the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug consumption in adolescents and young adults—the substance addressed, the type of intervention, the theoretical basis, the computational techniques used, the mechanism for data security and privacy, the evaluation procedure followed, and the main results obtained. Methods The review was performed by following the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. Data were retrieved from January 2010 to May 2022, using PubMed, Scopus (Elsevier), IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital as data sources. The eligibility criteria included studies that described serious games designed to support the prevention or treatment of alcohol and drug consumption, targeted a population aged between 12 and 30 years, and included an evaluation procedure. Authors (JMM and IEEC) individually screened the titles and abstracts, and then full articles were reviewed for a final inclusion decision. Results A total of 629 records were obtained, and 29 (4.6%) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Most of the serious games (14/29, 48%) were focused on the prevention or treatment of alcohol use. The type of intervention that was the most supported was prevention (18/29, 62%), and most studies mentioned the theory, theoretical construct, or therapeutic technique used as a foundation (22/29, 76%). Most of the studies only provided information about the platform for execution (23/29, 79%), and few described the use of computational techniques, such as virtual reality or motion-based interaction (5/29, 17%). A small set of studies (10/29, 34%) explicitly mentioned how data security and privacy were addressed. Most of the reported evaluation protocols were pilot studies (11/29, 38%), followed by randomized controlled trials (10/29, 34%), and the reported results were positive in terms of acceptability, usability, and efficacy. However, more research is needed to assess long-term effects. Conclusions Given the increasing interest in the use of serious games as digital interventions to support the prevention or treatment of substance use, knowing their main features is highly important. This review highlights whether and how current serious games incorporate 7 key features that are useful to consider for the further development of the area.

Multiplatform web app (My Way Up) plus motivational interviewing for improving treatment retention in patients with onset of alcohol-related liver disease and alcohol use disorder – an example of participatory research

“…Moreover, interventions using SG to promote the treatment of mental health disorders have shown feasibility and high levels of acceptability among users and providers. 36 , 37 In relation to alcohol, SG has been used to increase knowledge regarding the consequences of alcohol consumption in adolescents, craving 38 and in reducing attentional bias. 39 So far, few studies have explored the efficacy of SG to reduce alcohol intake, maintain abstinence, or adherence to addiction treatment.…”

Serious Games in Medical Education: What it Adds? How to Go about It?

“…A wide range of serious games can be designed to target different areas in healthcare training, which cumulatively provide a holistic and engaging approach for students to acquire knowledge and develop skills. [ 4 5 6 ] These include…”

“…[ 5 ] Further, there is also scope to introduce games dealing with interaction with virtual patients (to help students learn the art of effective communication, empathy, and counseling), emergency medicine (to inculcate the skills of rapid decision-making triage, etc., in trauma or other accidents-based scenarios), epidemiological (deals with outbreaks of infectious disease and public health interventions), etc. [ 2 3 6 8 ] …”

“…[ 3 5 ] As these games can pose diagnostic challenges, students learn the art of refining their diagnostic reasoning abilities in simulated settings upon analyzing the available findings. [ 6 ] Further, these games provide a useful opportunity for students to master effective communication skills, including active listening. [ 1 8 ] Exposure to emergency medicine simulations encourages medical students to practice teamwork, strengthen interpersonal communication, manage emergencies, and make quick, coordinated, and evidence-driven decisions.…”

A Video Game Intervention to Prevent Opioid Misuse Among Older Adolescents: Development and Preimplementation Study

“…Digital interventions are also widely scalable and can reach more adolescents than would be possible with in-person interventions, particularly in light of the limited availability of trained personnel [32]. Serious video games-video games designed for a primary purpose other than entertainment [17,18,[28][29][30]33]-are effective as interventions for adolescent substance misuse [34] and are a popular medium for adolescents, as over 95% of adolescents play video games [35]. Through simulated role-playing, which is a highly effective method used for learning purposes [36], serious video games allow individuals to practice behavioral skills in a safe and entertaining manner [37,38], increasing the likelihood of translating these practiced skills into real-life situations [39,40].…”