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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05702086

Making SPARX Fly in Nunavut: Pilot Testing an E-intervention for Boosting Resilience Against Youth Depression

The goal of this pilot trial was to test SPARX with Inuit youth in Northern Canada. SPARX is an educational video game designed to teach cognitive behavioural therapy strategies and techniques. This "serious game" has previously shown promise in addressing symptoms of depression with Māori youth in New Zealand. Researchers in this study tested SPARX's suitability with Inuit youth in the territory of Nunavut using surveys that youth completed before and after gameplay.

Hypothesis 1: Youth who completed SPARX were expected to experience a decrease in depressive symptoms and risk factors related to depression. Hypothesis 2: Youth who completed the SPARX program were expected to experience an increase in factors related to resilience.

A team of Nunavut-based community mental health staff facilitated youth's participation in this remote pilot trial with 24 youth aged 13-18 across 11 communities in Nunavut. These youth had been identified by community facilitators as showing low mood, depression, and/or significant levels of stress.

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Key information

Conditions

Depressive Symptoms Behavior Behavioral Symptoms Depression Digestive System Diseases Emotion Regulation Emotional Regulation Feeding and Eating Disorders Gastrointestinal Diseases Mental Disorders Rumination Syndrome Self-Control Social Behavior

Age range

13 year–18 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

York University

Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • one or more of the following:
  • low mood
  • negative affect
  • depressive presentations
  • significant levels of stress and:
  • sufficient English language comprehension to use and understand SPARX

Exclusion criteria

None

Treatment and study plan

SPARX (Smart, Positive, Active, Realistic, X-Factor thoughts)

Other

SPARX (Smart, Positive, Active, Realistic, X-Factor thoughts) is a psychoeducational serious game (an e-intervention that utilizes gaming for serious purposes) that teaches established cognitive behavioural therapy strategies and techniques across seven levels or modules. The game is designed to address depressive symptoms in youth by helping them cope with negative thoughts and feelings, represented in the game as GNATs-Gloomy Negative Automatic Thoughts. SPARX was originally designed and developed at the University of Auckland with the specific needs of certain underserved groups of youth in mind, including Māori rangatahi, the Indigenous young people of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Primary outcomes

  1. "Centre for Epidemiologic Depression Scale - Revised"

    Time frame: Pre-gameplay (T=0)

    20-item, self-report scale that aims to measure current depressive symptomatology; total scores range 0-60 with higher score representing worse depression

  2. "Centre for Epidemiologic Depression Scale - Revised"

    Time frame: Post-gameplay (T=7 weeks)

    20-item, self-report scale that aims to measure current depressive symptomatology; total scores range 0-60 with higher score representing worse depression

  3. "Hopelessness Scale for Children"

    Time frame: Pre-gameplay (T=0)

    17 true-false items, which describe negative future expectations and negative present attitudes; scores range from 0-17 with higher score representing greater hopelessness for the future

  4. "Hopelessness Scale for Children"

    Time frame: Post-gameplay (T=7 weeks)

    17 true-false items, which describe negative future expectations and negative present attitudes; scores range from 0-17 with higher score representing greater hopelessness for the future

  5. "Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire - Short"

    Time frame: Pre-gameplay (T=0)

    18-item measure used with adolescents composed of nine coping styles, which are each coded as separate subscales of emotion regulation; items are scored on a Likert scale (1-5) with higher values corresponding to greater use of that cognitive strategy. Some strategies are positive, others negative

  6. "Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire - Short"

    Time frame: Post-gameplay (T=7 weeks)

    18-item measure used with adolescents composed of nine coping styles, which are each coded as separate subscales of emotion regulation; items are scored on a Likert scale (1-5) with higher values corresponding to greater use of that cognitive strategy. Some strategies are positive, others negative

  7. "Child and Youth Resilience Measure - Short"

    Time frame: Pre-gameplay (T=0)

    12-item self-report measure that includes three dimensions (Individual, Relational, and Contextual) that reflect the major categories of resilience; total scores range from 12-36 (no; sometimes; yes for 12 items at 1, 2, 3, points respectively); higher scores indicate higher resilience

  8. "Child and Youth Resilience Measure - Short"

    Time frame: Post-gameplay (T=7 weeks)

    12-item self-report measure that includes three dimensions (Individual, Relational, and Contextual) that reflect the major categories of resilience; total scores range from 12-36 (no; sometimes; yes for 12 items at 1, 2, 3, points respectively); higher scores indicate higher resilience

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

York University

Other

Collaborators

  • Government of Nunavut
  • Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre

Registry information

Official study title

Evaluating the Utility of a Psychoeducational Serious Game (SPARX) in Protecting Inuit Youth From Depression: A Pilot Study

Important dates

Study start
2014
Primary completion
2015
Study completion
2015
First posted
Jan 27, 2023
Registry last updated
Jan 31, 2023

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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