Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorChan, Tina
dc.contributor.authorGauthier, Robert
dc.contributor.authorSuarez, Ally
dc.contributor.authorSia, Nicholas F.
dc.contributor.authorWallace, James R
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-20 15:50:59 (GMT)
dc.date.available2021-07-20 15:50:59 (GMT)
dc.date.issued2021-09
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1145/3474677
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10012/17150
dc.description.abstractHuman-Computer Interaction researchers have explored how online communities can be leveraged for peer support, but general disinterest and a lack of engagement have emerged as substantial barriers to their use in practice. To address this gap, we designed Merlynne, a serious game that seeks to motivate individuals to support peers through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Our game explored use of the Proteus Effect — a phenomenon where players adopt characteristics of their in-game avatar — to motivate peer support through stereotyped 'helpful' and 'unhelpful' avatars. We then conducted a mixed-methods, exploratory study to investigate its design. We found that our game successfully motivated players to offer peer support, despite the substantial emotional labour required by CBT. However, we were not able to replicate the Proteus Effect, and did not find differences in that support based on a player's avatar. In reflecting on our findings, we discuss design challenges and considerations for the use of serious games to motivate participation in mental health support, including: fatigue, a player's need for self-expression and to relate to those they are supporting, and ludonarrative dissonance.en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherACMen
dc.subjectHuman-Computer Interactionen
dc.subjectCognitive Behavioural Therapyen
dc.subjectSerious Gamesen
dc.titleMerlynne: Motivating Peer-to-Peer Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with a Serious Gameen
dc.typeArticleen
uws.contributor.affiliation1Faculty of Applied Health Sciencesen
uws.contributor.affiliation1Faculty of Mathematicsen
uws.contributor.affiliation2David R. Cheriton School of Computer Scienceen
uws.contributor.affiliation2Public Health and Health Systems (School of)en
uws.typeOfResourceTexten
uws.peerReviewStatusRevieweden
uws.scholarLevelFacultyen
uws.scholarLevelGraduateen


Files in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record


UWSpace

University of Waterloo Library
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4883

All items in UWSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved.

DSpace software

Service outages