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AnxietyNCT05923944

Video Game Play to Alleviate Adolescent Anxiety

A study testing Eco-Rescue and Bejelewed 3 in people with Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms, run by School of Health Sciences Geneva at 3 sites in 3 countries.

Recruiting

Looking for participants now. Contact the study team or a site below to ask about taking part.

Sites and contacts
Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

Adolescence is a critical period for the onset and maintenance of anxiety disorders, which raises the importance of intervening early; one possibility of doing so is via digital interventions. At least two lines of research have been explored in the past years in this area. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 11 to 15 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms
What is being tested?
Eco-Rescue and Bejelewed 3
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
150 participants
Where
3 sitesin 3 countries
Study dates
1 Jun 2024to Oct 2027
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 11 to 15 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child

Who may be able to join

  • Adolescents aged 11-15 years
  • Elevated anxiety symptoms, defined as a total score of ≥15 on the 41-item parent-report version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED).
  • Access to a computer (at least Windows 7 or Mac OSX) at home and a reliable internet connection

Who cannot join

  • DSM diagnoses of Bipolar, Psychosis, Autism Spectrum Disorder, present or past.
  • Neurological injury (i.e. head injury)
  • Currently enrolled in another cognitive training intervention

Trial locations and contacts

3 sites in 3 countries. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

Naïma Gradi, PhD Student contact

+33 6 31 85 49 96

naima.gradi@unige.ch

Swann Pichon, Professor contact

+41 22 558 66 42

swann.pichon@hesge.ch

3 sites in 3 countries

United States1 site, 1 recruiting

  • Center for Children and Families

    Miami, Florida, 33199

    Jeremy Pettit Pr, PhD, 305-348-1671, jpettit@fiu.edu

    Jeremy Pettit, PhD

    Recruiting

Other trials in United States

Israel1 site, 1 recruiting

  • University of Haifa

    Haifa

    Tomer Shechner, Professor, +972 545 588 522, tshechner@psy.haifa.ac.il

    Tomer Shechner, Professor

    Recruiting

Other trials in Israel

Switzerland1 site, 1 recruiting

  • University of Geneva

    Geneva, Canton of Geneva, 1202

    Naïma Gradi, PhD Student, naima.gradi@unige.ch

    Swann Pichon, Professor, +41 22 558 66 42, swann.pichon@hesge.ch

    Recruiting

Other trials in Switzerland

About this study

Official title: Evaluating the Effect of Gamified Cognitive Training and of Casual Videogame Play on Anxiety in Adolescents: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Adolescence is a critical period for the onset and maintenance of anxiety disorders, which raises the importance of intervening early; one possibility of doing so is via digital interventions. At least two lines of research have been explored in the past years in this area. First, studies have tested the anxiolytic effects of casual video games, hypothesizing that, through the induction of flow, these games can effectively distract individuals from anxiety-related thoughts and feelings. Second, the bidirectional link between poor attentional control and higher anxiety has led to the design of novel interventions aiming to improve attentional control such as working memory training studies. Importantly, action video games, classified as a distinct gaming genre, have been shown to enhance attentional control. In this study, we aim to compare the effects of action video game play and casual game play to a no-training group, assessing their potential to alleviate anxiety when delivered entirely online. The goal of this three- arms randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the feasibility of a 6-week video game training intervention to reduce adolescent anxiety-related symptoms. We will also examine the efficacy of the proposed treatment when entirely deployed at adolescents' home.

Being tested
Eco-Rescue, Bejelewed 3
Keywords
Digital mental health, Video Games, Cognitive Training, Emotion Regulation, anxiety, Attention distraction
Medical subject headings
Anxiety Disorders, Emotional Regulation

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Eco-RescueBehavioural

    Ecorescue is a gamified adaptation of the multiple object tracking task (MOT) combined with a detection task. It requires to track the spatial position of specific moving targets among visually similar moving distractors, while at the same time detecting briefly flashed events. It was designed to load on attentional control and visuo-spatial working memory. Additionally, targets may express various facial emotions (happy, angry or neutral) requiring some emotional control in addition to attentional control.

  • Bejelewed 3Behavioural

    Bejeweled 3 is a commercially available puzzle video game developed and edited by PopCap Games. The main objective is to swap two adjacent gems of seven colors to create a line or row of 3 or more gems of the same type. When these gems are aligned, they disappear, and points are earned. The goal is to get as many points as possible until it is impossible to line up gems. Bejeweled 3 offers a variety of game modes that players can freely explore at their own pace, enhancing the overall enjoyment and providing increased variability during each gaming session. These game modes typically have shorter durations, with a single game usually lasting less than 5 minutes. Bejeweled 3 was chosen as it requires fewer attentional resources compared to Eco-Rescue and because it was reported to reduce stress and anxiety in adult samples (Russoniello et al. 2009, 2013).

Study groups in NCT05923944
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Eco-Rescue - Attentional Control - interventionExperimentalThe Eco-Rescue training intervention will be delivered through a dedicated video game installed on each participant's personal computer through the Steam platform, following a recommended training regimen of 30 minutes per day, 4 days per week for 6 weeks, for an expected total training duration of 12 hours.
Receives: Behavioral: Eco-Rescue
Bejeweled 3 - Casual gaming - interventionExperimentalThe Bejeweled 3 training intervention will be delivered through a dedicated video game installed on each participant's personal computer through the Steam platform, following a recommended training regimen of 30 minutes per day, 4 days per week for 6 weeks, for an expected total training duration of 12 hours.
Receives: Behavioral: Bejelewed 3
No-training interventionNo interventionThe No-training intervention group does not involve any specific training program. Instead, participants assigned to this group will receive weekly phone calls, similar to the other groups, to answer the same questions as the other groups concerning their mental and emotional states and maintain regular contact throughout the 6-week study duration.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Anxiety assessed through the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders Child Version (SCARED-C; Birmaher et al. 1999)

    The SCARED-C is a 41 items self-report anxiety questionnaire with subscales measuring General Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia Disorder, Panic Disorder, Separation Anxiety Disorder and School Avoidance. Participants are asked to rate each statement, referring to the past four weeks, on a scale ranging from 0 (Not True or Hardly Ever True) to 2 (Very True or Often True). A score of 25 or higher may indicate the presence of an Anxiety Disorder. Analysis of primary outcome will be based on this total score.

    Measured: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after training completion (T2), and at 4 months after training completion (T3)

Secondary outcomes (4)

  1. Attentional Control assessed through the Useful Field of View Task (UFOV; Yung et al., 2015)

    The UFOV is a computerized divided attention task where participants have to identify whether a briefly flashed smiley presented at the center of the screen has short or long hair and detect on which of the eight cardinal directions was a peripheral target stimulus presented, while ignoring other distractors. The presentation time is made shorter (more difficult) or longer (less difficult) according to a 3-down-1-up staircase. The task stops after 8 reversals or 72 trials, whichever happens first. Performance is measured by the mean presentation time of the last 5 trials (expressed in milliseconds). The task measures the efficiency of divided visual attention in the presence of visual distractors.

    Measured: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after training completion (T2), and at 4 months after training completion (T3)

  2. Attentional Control assessed through an adaptation of the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) as implemented in the ACE-X battery (Mars-UFO and Venus-UFO; https://neuroscape.ucsf.edu/researchers-ace/)

    The TOVA is a computerized task where participants press a response key when presented with a visual stimulus in the upper part of the screen (go trials) and refrain from responding if flashed in the lower part of the screen (no-go trials). A first block evaluates sustained attention and a second impulsivity. In the sustained attention, go trials represent 25% of the trials; in the impulsivity block, go trials represent 75% of the trials.

    Measured: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after training completion (T2), and at 4 months after training completion (T3)

  3. Attentional Control assessed through the Multiple Objects Tracking Task (MOT; Yung et al., 2015)

    The MOT is a computerized task in which participants are presented 16 yellow smileys moving freely within a circular area. During the first two seconds of each trial, a subset of these items is flagged as targets by being blue. Participants are instructed to track these blue smileys even though they turn back to yellow and become indistinguishable from the other items. After a few seconds, the items stop moving, one item is highlighted, and participants respond whether this item was initially flagged blue or not. MOT performance is measured as the percentage of correct responses (i.e. accuracy) in trials with 3, 4, 5 and 6 targets independently and combined overall. Higher accuracy score indicates better task performance. This task requires not only selecting targets amongst distractors but also dividing one's attention among these moving targets. Furthermore, it requires sustaining attention for a few seconds, necessitating both sustained attention and visuo-spatial working memory.

    Measured: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after training completion (T2), and at 4 months after training completion (T3)

  4. Affective Control assessed through the Affective Backward Digit Span Task (ABDS; modified version of Schweizer et al. 2019)

    The ABDS is a computer-based task where participants are presented with digits (for 1500 ms) one after the other, and asked to recall them in reverse order. These are presented on a background of either neutral or affective images, in two different blocks, to manipulate valence. The images are sourced from the Geneva Affective Picture Database. In each trial, participants are presented with a series of single digits [0-9]. The length of the series to recall is increased or decreased by one digit depending on previous trial performance according to a 1-up-1-down staircase. No feedback is provided. After two reversals the block stops. Span is estimated for each block as the maximum correct length recalled. The span difference between the neutral versus affective blocks is an index of the individual ability to implement control in the face of affective distraction

    Measured: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after training completion (T2), and at 4 months after training completion (T3)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted28 Jun 2023
  2. Study start1 Jun 2024
  3. Primary completionOct 2027 (estimated)
  4. Study completionOct 2027 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
150 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05923944
Sponsor's protocol ID
10001C_212812
Status last verified
Sep 2026
First submitted
6 Jun 2023
Last updated
18 Sep 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No: Identifiable data will remain under the responsibility of each local study site and will not be shared between sites. Only de-identified individual participant data will be shared between participating study sites for the purposes of the planned analyses, in accordance with the approved ethical protocols, participant consent procedures, and applicable data-protection requirements.

Publications

  • Gradi N, Chopin A, Bavelier D, Shechner T, Pichon S. Evaluating the effect of action-like video game play and of casual video game play on anxiety in adolescents with elevated anxiety: protocol for a multi-center, parallel group, assessor-blind, randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry. 2024 Jan 19;24(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05515-7.

    PubMed 38243201

  • Behrens B, Swetlitz C, Pine DS, Pagliaccio D. The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED): Informant Discrepancy, Measurement Invariance, and Test-Retest Reliability. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2019 Jun;50(3):473-482. doi: 10.1007/s10578-018-0854-0.

    PubMed 30460424

  • Yung A, Cardoso-Leite P, Dale G, Bavelier D, Green CS. Methods to test visual attention online. J Vis Exp. 2015 Feb 19;(96):52470. doi: 10.3791/52470.

    PubMed 25741746

  • Schweizer S, Leung JT, Kievit R, Speekenbrink M, Trender W, Hampshire A, Blakemore SJ. Protocol for an app-based affective control training for adolescents: proof-of-principle double-blind randomized controlled trial. Wellcome Open Res. 2019 Oct 2;4:91. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15229.2. eCollection 2019.

    PubMed 31289755

  • Pylyshyn ZW, Storm RW. Tracking multiple independent targets: evidence for a parallel tracking mechanism. Spat Vis. 1988;3(3):179-97. doi: 10.1163/156856888x00122.

    PubMed 3153671

  • Russoniello CV, O'Brien K, Parks JM. EEG, HRV and Psychological Correlates while Playing Bejeweled II: A Randomized Controlled Study. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2009;144:189-92.

    PubMed 19592761

  • Russoniello CV, Fish M, O'Brien K. The Efficacy of Casual Videogame Play in Reducing Clinical Depression: A Randomized Controlled Study. Games Health J. 2013 Dec;2(6):341-6. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2013.0010. Epub 2013 Nov 8.

    PubMed 26197075

  • Derryberry D, Reed MA. Anxiety-related attentional biases and their regulation by attentional control. J Abnorm Psychol. 2002 May;111(2):225-36. doi: 10.1037//0021-843x.111.2.225.

    PubMed 12003445

  • Kroenke K, Strine TW, Spitzer RL, Williams JB, Berry JT, Mokdad AH. The PHQ-8 as a measure of current depression in the general population. J Affect Disord. 2009 Apr;114(1-3):163-73. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2008.06.026. Epub 2008 Aug 27.

    PubMed 18752852

  • Garnefski, N., Kraaij, V., & Spinhoven, P. (2001). Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation and emotional problems. Personality and Individual differences, 30(8), 1311-1327.

  • Goodman R, Meltzer H, Bailey V. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a pilot study on the validity of the self-report version. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1998 Sep;7(3):125-30. doi: 10.1007/s007870050057.

    PubMed 9826298

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Eco-Rescue and Bejelewed 3 in people with Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms, run by School of Health Sciences Geneva at 3 sites in 3 countries.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Sep 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 3 sites in United States, Israel, Switzerland. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Naïma Gradi, PhD Student (+33 6 31 85 49 96, naima.gradi@unige.ch), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Anxiety assessed through the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders Child Version (SCARED-C; Birmaher et al. 1999) (time frame: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after training completion (T2), and at 4 months after training completion (T3)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05923944, which also lists 11 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Sep 2026.

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