Design, Implementation and Evaluation of an Intervention Within Video Game for Mental Health Literacy in Adolescents and Young Adults

NCT ID: NCT06473857

Last Updated: 2024-06-25

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 300 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-06-30
• Study Completion Date: 2025-12-01

Brief Summary

Context Adolescence and early adulthood are crucial periods for the development and maintenance of habits, behaviors and beliefs favorable to health and mental well-being. These can have significant lifelong health consequences and social costs. In this age group, the Internet and smartphones are predominant. Based on these two observations, the project proposes to use the Internet, and more specifically, an online game, as a vector for public health intervention. Health literacy is recognized as a key determinant of health. It refers to the motivation and skills of individuals to access, understand, evaluate and use information to make decisions about their health. Improving the level of literacy is a major public health challenge if the population is to be in a position to take better charge of its health, particularly its mental health.

Objective To evaluate the effect of a public health intervention on the development of mental health literacy in adolescents and young adults (15-25 years) delivered within an existing online community game.

Research hypothesis Developing and delivering a (multicomponent) public health intervention in an original setting, such as the game Minecraft, to a community of adolescents and young adults will improve their mental health literacy and thus enhance the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of mental health disorders.

Methods The project's overall methodology is based on a multidisciplinary approach. A pilot phase has already enabled us to develop the theoretical framework and constituent elements of an intervention, as well as its acceptability and feasibility.

Intervention We will conduct a pragmatic cohort multiple randomised controlled trial over 24 months. The chosen methodology will enable us to implement an intervention with different components.

The intervention will involve: collective challenges of various kinds (component A) and exchanges with influencers of different profiles (component B). The control group will be offered access to conventional sources of health information and ""placebos"" of the components described above. The theme is mental health literacy, and the intervention delivered will equip the players (capacity-building, recognizing ill-being, warning signs, resources, etc.) to ultimately enable them to react better (empowerment) and thus promote young people's mental health.

Evaluation The evaluation will follow the Medical Research Council's recommendations for the evaluation of complex interventions. It will consist of a process evaluation and an evaluation of effectiveness, all of which will be based on the use of mixed methods (observations of players receiving the intervention, analysis of chat exchanges made by players during the intervention, evaluation questionnaires and a standardized grid for collecting process indicators). The primary endpoint for the effect analysis is the mental health literacy score (global score) measured by the MHLq including four dimensions: (1) knowledge of mental health problems; (2) mistaken beliefs/stereotypes; (3) help-seeking and first-aid skills; and (4) self-help strategies.

Perspectives The results of this research project will make it possible to 1) develop new relevant interventions on various health topics, using the results obtained for the different interventions carried out within Minecraft 2) Contribute to the evidence base on the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions.

Detailed Description

Context Adolescence and early adulthood are crucial periods for the development and maintenance of habits, behaviors and beliefs favorable to health and mental well-being. These can have significant lifelong health consequences and social costs. In this age group, the Internet and smartphones are predominant. Based on these two observations, the project proposes to use the Internet, and more specifically, an online game, as a vector for public health intervention. Health literacy is recognized as a key determinant of health. It refers to the motivation and skills of individuals to access, understand, evaluate and use information to make decisions about their health. Improving the level of literacy is a major public health challenge if the population is to be in a position to take better charge of its health, particularly its mental health.

Objective To evaluate the effect of a public health intervention on the development of mental health literacy in adolescents and young adults (15-25 years) delivered within an existing online community game.

Research hypothesis Developing and delivering a (multicomponent) public health intervention in an original setting, such as the game Minecraft, to a community of adolescents and young adults will improve their mental health literacy and thus enhance the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of mental health disorders.

Methods The project's overall methodology is based on a multidisciplinary approach. A pilot phase has already enabled us to develop the theoretical framework and constituent elements of an intervention, as well as its acceptability and feasibility.

Intervention We will conduct a pragmatic cohort multiple randomised controlled trial over 24 months. The chosen methodology will enable us to implement an intervention with different components.

The intervention will involve: collective challenges of various kinds (component A) and exchanges with influencers of different profiles (component B). The control group will be offered access to conventional sources of health information and ""placebos"" of the components described above. The theme is mental health literacy, and the intervention delivered will equip the players (capacity-building, recognizing ill-being, warning signs, resources, etc.) to ultimately enable them to react better (empowerment) and thus promote young people's mental health.

Evaluation The evaluation will follow the Medical Research Council's recommendations for the evaluation of complex interventions. It will consist of a process evaluation and an evaluation of effectiveness, all of which will be based on the use of mixed methods (observations of players receiving the intervention, analysis of chat exchanges made by players during the intervention, evaluation questionnaires and a standardized grid for collecting process indicators). The primary endpoint for the effect analysis is the mental health literacy score (global score) measured by the MHLq including four dimensions: (1) knowledge of mental health problems; (2) mistaken beliefs/stereotypes; (3) help-seeking and first-aid skills; and (4) self-help strategies.

Perspectives The results of this research project will make it possible to 1) develop new relevant interventions on various health topics, using the results obtained for the different interventions carried out within Minecraft 2) Contribute to the evidence base on the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions.

Conditions

Mental Health Literacy

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Mental Health Literacy intervention

Mental health literacy interventions delivered online for adolescents and young adults on, 3 modalities : webconferences, build battle, serious games

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Mental health literacy intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Online interventions for adolescents and young adults on mental health literacy, 3 modalities : webconferences, build battle, serious games

Other topic intervention - not related to mental health

Other topics online interventions for adolescents and young adults, 3 modalities : webconferences, build battle, serious games

Group Type: OTHER

Non mental health intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Online interventions for adolescents and young adults on other topics, 3 modalities : webconferences, build battle, serious games

Interventions

Mental health literacy intervention

Online interventions for adolescents and young adults on mental health literacy, 3 modalities : webconferences, build battle, serious games

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Non mental health intervention

Online interventions for adolescents and young adults on other topics, 3 modalities : webconferences, build battle, serious games

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• French speaking Minecraft players (15 to 25 years old)

Exclusion Criteria

-

• Minimum Eligible Age: 15 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 25 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Enora LE ROUX, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Locations

Hopital Robert Debré

Paris, , France

Countries

France

Central Contacts

Enora LE ROUX, PhD

Role: CONTACT

enora.leroux@aphp.fr

+33140032366

Lorraine Cousin Cabrolier, PhD

Role: CONTACT

lorraine.cousin@aphp.fr

+33683586227

Facility Contacts

Lorraine Cousin Cabrolier, PhD

Role: primary

Lorraine Cousin Cabrolier, PhD

Role: backup

lorraine.cousin@aphp.fr

+33683586227

Other Identifiers

CNAM_SCOTT_CIC1426_alberti

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

A21024HS

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id