Can gamified behavioral change mental health mobile apps reduce students’ anxiety and improve well-being? An efficacy study

Aim: Designed to support the mental well-being of university students, the gamified Student Stress Resilience (SSResilience) app guides users in setting and working toward goals related to studying, socializing, and exercising. The app monitors progress through a combination of data from a user’s phone (via Internet of Things sensors) and information they enter themselves. This efficacy study documented students’ goal-setting efforts (RQ1) and examined the app’s effect on students’ anxiety, resilience, and psychological well-being (RQ2). Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was used. Experimental group students (n1 = 25) used the app for two weeks. Control group students (n2 = 50) used different means to set the same goals. All students were pre-tested and post-tested on anxiety, well-being, and resilience using standardized questionnaires. Results: Nineteen out of 25 experimental group students used the app to set one or more goals (19/25), and 18 of them found it helpful (18/25). The experimental group experienced a significant (t(22) = 2.72, P = 0.013) decrease in anxiety from Mpre = 8.96 (SD = 5.30) to Mpost = 5.76 (SD = 4.59), an increase in well-being from Mpre = 54.6 (SD = 25.88) to Mpost = 65.12 (SD = 23.90), but no change in resilience. Control group students’ (n = 43) measurements remained unchanged. Conclusions: Preliminary findings indicate a potential value of the SSResilience app for significantly reducing students’ anxiety and increasing their well-being. Integrating Internet of Things technology (built-in phone sensors) into gamified apps for health holds significant promise by offering valuable data to users, app developers, and researchers. Future research will use wearables to measure stress and physical activity more accurately than self-reports.