Impact of Explicit Mental Health Messages

Serious games aimed at promoting well-being in youth have promising effects and potential for far-reaching impact. Considering that most mental health disorders remain untreated in youth, therapeutic games may be most valuable when they are aimed at untreated youth with internalizing symptoms. However, when targeting youth outside of a clinical setting, the first impression of therapeutic video games may determine whether and how a game is played. Thus, understanding the influence of messaging used in the promotion of therapeutic games on game choice and experience is critical. The current study examined two alternatives in promoting mental health games: one included explicit mental health messaging (e.g., learn to manage stress) and the other was a stealth promotion that did not mention mental health but highlighted the entertainment value. Young adults (n = 129, Mage = 21.33, SDage = 3.20) with mild to severe internalizing mental health symptoms (i.e., depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms) were shown two distinct trailer designs, with random assignment determining which design held which message. In addition, we assessed motivation to change, emotion mindset, stress mindset, and game engagement to examine their interaction with mental health messaging.