Videogame interventions are becoming increasingly popular as
a means to engage people in behavioral interventions; however, strategies for
examining data from such interventions have not been developed.
The objective of this study was to describe how a
technology-based intervention can yield meaningful, objective evidence of
intervention exposure within a behavioral intervention. This study demonstrates
the analysis of automatic log files, created by software from a videogame
intervention, that catalog game play and, as proof of concept, the association
of these data with changes in substance use knowledge as documented with
standardized assessments.
We analyzed 3- and 6-month follow-up data from 166
participants enrolled in a randomized controlled trial evaluating a videogame
intervention, PlayForward: Elm City Stories (PlayForward). PlayForward is a
videogame developed as a risk reduction and prevention program targeting HIV
risk behaviors (substance use and sex) in young minority adolescents. Log files
were analyzed to extract the total amount of time spent playing the videogame
intervention and the total number of game levels completed and beaten by each
player.
Completing and beating more of the game levels, and not
total game play time, was related to higher substance use knowledge scores at
the 3- (P=.001) and 6-month (P=.001) follow-ups.
Our findings highlight the potential contributions a
videogame intervention can make to the study of health behavior change.
Specifically, the use of objective data collected during game play can address
challenges in traditional human-delivered behavioral interventions
Full article at: http://goo.gl/fMgORr
By:
- 1Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States. erika.montanaro@yale.edu.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
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