Identifying Video Game Preferences Among Adults Interested in Quitting Smoking Cigarettes: Survey Study

Caitlyn R Upton, Jessica A Nastasi, Bethany R Raiff, Caitlyn R Upton, Jessica A Nastasi, Bethany R Raiff

Abstract

Background: Smoking is the most prevalent cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Although most individuals who smoke express a desire to quit smoking, only a small percentage are successful. Serious games have become popular in health sectors as a potential avenue for delivering a scalable treatment that is both accessible and engaging for the smoking population. Several smoking cessation games have already been developed, but these games feature a broad range of gameplay elements and are not necessarily based on existing video game preferences in the general or smoking population.

Objective: To better inform treatment development, this study aims to evaluate video game genre preferences among treatment-seeking individuals who smoke (N=473).

Methods: Participants responded to a screening survey to enroll in a larger, serious game intervention for smoking cessation. During this screening survey, participants were asked to disclose their favorite video games, which resulted in 277 unique game titles. These titles were coded for genre categories based on publisher listings and game features. The genres were then analyzed for the frequency of reporting overall and across age groups.

Results: Action, Role-Playing, and Action-Adventure were the most reported genres among adults aged ≤34 years; Action, Action-Adventure, and Logic were the most reported genres among adults aged 35-44 years; and Logic and Action were the most reported genres among adults aged ≥45 years.

Conclusions: These data indicate that treatment-seeking individuals who smoke have different game preferences across age groups, and the data provide novel information to inform the development of future serious games targeting the smoking population that are tailored to the preferences of their age group.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03929003; https://ichgcp.net/clinical-trials-registry/NCT03929003.

Keywords: genres; mobile phone; popular games; smartphone; smoking cessation; video games.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

©Caitlyn R Upton, Jessica A Nastasi, Bethany R Raiff. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (https://games.jmir.org), 24.03.2022.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A bar graph depicting the raw number of times a genre was endorsed across age groups. Action, Action-Adventure, Role-Playing, and Logic were selected for this distribution because they were the four most frequently endorsed genres, overall. All 4 genres were significantly correlated with age with α (P<.01); Action (P=.002), Action-Adventure (P=.008), Role-Playing (P<.001), and Logic (P<.001).

References

    1. Fast facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2020. [2021-04-09]. .
    1. Current cigarette smoking among adults in the United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2021. [2021-04-09]. .
    1. Babb S, Malarcher A, Schauer G, Asman K, Jamal A. Quitting smoking among adults - United States, 2000-2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2017 Jan 06;65(52):1457–64. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6552a1. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6552a1.
    1. Fleming TM, Bavin L, Stasiak K, Hermansson-Webb E, Merry SN, Cheek C, Lucassen M, Lau HM, Pollmuller B, Hetrick S. Serious games and gamification for mental health: current status and promising directions. Front Psychiatry. 2016 Jan;7:215. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00215. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00215.
    1. Wattanasoontorn V, Boada I, García R, Sbert M. Serious games for health. Entertain Comput. 2013 Dec;4(4):231–47. doi: 10.1016/j.entcom.2013.09.002.
    1. 2020 Essential facts about the video game industry. Entertainment Software Association. 2020. [2021-04-09].
    1. Edwards EA, Caton H, Lumsden J, Rivas C, Steed L, Pirunsarn Y, Jumbe S, Newby C, Shenvi A, Mazumdar S, Smith JQ, Greenhill D, Griffiths CJ, Walton RT. Creating a theoretically grounded, gamified health app: lessons from developing the cigbreak smoking cessation mobile phone game. JMIR Serious Games. 2018 Nov 29;6(4):e10252. doi: 10.2196/10252. v6i4e10252
    1. Raiff BR, Fortugno N, Scherlis DR, Rapoza D. A mobile game to support smoking cessation: prototype assessment. JMIR Serious Games. 2018 Jun 07;6(2):e11. doi: 10.2196/games.9599. v6i2e11
    1. Marin-Gomez FX, Garcia-Moreno Marchán R, Mayos-Fernandez A, Flores-Mateo G, Granado-Font E, Barrera Uriarte ML, Duch J, Rey-Reñones C. Exploring efficacy of a serious game (Tobbstop) for smoking cessation during pregnancy: randomized controlled trial. JMIR Serious Games. 2019 Mar 27;7(1):e12835. doi: 10.2196/12835. v7i1e12835
    1. Krebs P, Burkhalter JE, Snow B, Fiske J, Ostroff JS. Development and alpha testing of QuitIT: an interactive video game to enhance skills for coping with smoking urges. JMIR Res Protoc. 2013 Sep 11;2(2):e35. doi: 10.2196/resprot.2416. v2i2e35
    1. Bindoff I, de Salas K, Peterson G, Ling T, Lewis I, Wells L, Gee P, Ferguson SG. Quittr: the design of a video game to support smoking cessation. JMIR Serious Games. 2016 Dec 01;4(2):e19. doi: 10.2196/games.6258. v4i2e19
    1. Derksen M, van Strijp S, Kunst A, Daams J, Jaspers M, Fransen M. Serious games for smoking prevention and cessation: a systematic review of game elements and game effects. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2020 May 01;27(5):818–33. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa013. 5824768
    1. Haskins BL, Lesperance D, Gibbons P, Boudreaux ED. A systematic review of smartphone applications for smoking cessation. Transl Behav Med. 2017 Jun;7(2):292–9. doi: 10.1007/s13142-017-0492-2. 10.1007/s13142-017-0492-2
    1. Cugelman B. Gamification: what it is and why it matters to digital health behavior change developers. JMIR Serious Games. 2013 Dec;1(1):e3. doi: 10.2196/games.3139. v1i1e3
    1. Mandryk RL, Birk MV. Toward game-based digital mental health interventions: player habits and preferences. J Med Internet Res. 2017 Dec 20;19(4):e128. doi: 10.2196/jmir.6906. v19i4e128
    1. Setya MH, Dicky HT, Ferdiana R. Platform and genre identification for designing serious games. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Science and Technology (ICST); 5th International Conference on Science and Technology (ICST); July 30-31, 2019; Yogyakarta, Indonesia. 2019. Jul 31,
    1. Procci K, Bohnsack J, Bowers C. Patterns of gaming preferences and serious game effectiveness. In: Shumaker R, editor. Virtual and Mixed Reality - Systems and Applications. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2011. pp. 37–43.
    1. Wilhelm C. Gender role orientation and gaming behavior revisited: examining mediated and moderated effects. Inform Commun Society. 2016 Dec 27;21(2):224–40. doi: 10.1080/1369118x.2016.1271902.
    1. Peever N, Johnson D, Gardner J. Personality and video game genre preferences. Proceedings of The 8th Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment: Playing the System; IE '12: The 8th Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment; July 21 - 22, 2012; Auckland New Zealand. 2012. pp. 1–3.
    1. Chesham A, Wyss P, Müri RM, Mosimann UP, Nef T. What older people like to play: genre preferences and acceptance of casual games. JMIR Serious Games. 2017 Apr 18;5(2):e8. doi: 10.2196/games.7025. v5i2e8
    1. Hartzler AL, BlueSpruce J, Catz SL, McClure JB. Prioritizing the mHealth design space: a mixed-methods analysis of smokers' perspectives. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2016 Aug 05;4(3):e95. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.5742. v4i3e95
    1. U.S. consumer spending on gaming by segment 2020. Statista. [2021-04-09].
    1. Industry results: genre and platform preferences (Age and gender) GameTree Blog. 2019. [2022-01-01].
    1. Tekinbas K, Zimmerman E. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 2003.
    1. Adams E. Fundamentals of Game Design. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders; 2013.
    1. Jones SE, Kann L, Pechacek TF. Cigarettes smoked per day among high school students in the U.S., 1991-2009. Am J Prev Med. 2011 Sep;41(3):297–9. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2011.05.018.S0749-3797(11)00343-6
    1. Nasim A, Khader Y, Blank MD, Cobb CO, Eissenberg T. Trends in alternative tobacco use among light, moderate, and heavy smokers in adolescence, 1999-2009. Addict Behav. 2012 Jul;37(7):866–70. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.03.001. S0306-4603(12)00087-1
    1. Blocker K, Wright T, Boot W. Gaming preferences of aging generations. Gerontechnology. 2014;12(3):174–84. doi: 10.4017/gt.2014.12.3.008.00.
    1. Lee J, Karlova N, Clarke R, Thornton K, Perti A. Facet analysis of video game genres. IDEALS. 2014. [2022-02-25]. .
    1. Buchmann A, Laucht M, Schmid B, Wiedemann K, Mann K, Zimmermann U. Cigarette craving increases after a psychosocial stress test and is related to cortisol stress response but not to dependence scores in daily smokers. J Psychopharmacol. 2010 Feb 28;24(2):247–55. doi: 10.1177/0269881108095716.0269881108095716
    1. Brom C, Buchtová M, Šisler V, Děchtěrenko F, Palme R, Glenk LM. Flow, social interaction anxiety and salivary cortisol responses in serious games: a quasi-experimental study. Comput Edu. 2014 Oct;79:69–100. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2014.07.001.
    1. Krarup K, Krarup H. The physiological and biochemical effects of gaming: a review. Environ Res. 2020 May;184:109344. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109344.S0013-9351(20)30237-1
    1. Gray PB, Vuong J, Zava DT, McHale TS. Testing men's hormone responses to playing League of Legends: no changes in testosterone, cortisol, DHEA or androstenedione but decreases in aldosterone. Comput Hum Behav. 2018 Jun;83:230–4. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.004.
    1. McCaffrey M. The macro problem of microtransactions: the self-regulatory challenges of video game loot boxes. Busin Horizons. 2019 Jul;62(4):483–95. doi: 10.1016/j.bushor.2019.03.001.
    1. Video game preferences by genre in the United States 2021. Statista. 2022. [2022-02-25]. .
    1. von Meduna M, Steinmetz F, Ante L, Reynolds J, Fiedler I. Loot boxes are gambling-like elements in video games with harmful potential: results from a large-scale population survey. Technol Society. 2020 Nov;63:101395. doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101395.
    1. Kuittinen J, Annakaisa K, Niemelä J, Paavilainen J. Casual games discussion. Proceedings of the Conference on Future Play; Futureplay2007; November 14 - 17, 2007; Toronto Canada. 2007. pp. 105–12.
    1. Whitbourne SK, Ellenberg S, Akimoto K. Reasons for playing casual video games and perceived benefits among adults 18 to 80 years old. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2013 Dec;16(12):892–7. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2012.0705.
    1. Bravo I. Hyper-casual gaming: the latest stats and trends you need to know. GameAnalytics. 2019. [2021-02-18].
    1. Heishman SJ, Singleton EG, Moolchan ET. Tobacco Craving Questionnaire: reliability and validity of a new multifactorial instrument. Nicotine Tob Res. 2003 Oct 1;5(5):645–54. doi: 10.1080/1462220031000158681.B25C0BMNQQ38MFET
    1. Ahrens S, Thiel CM. Effects of nicotine on task switching and distraction in non-smokers. An fMRI study. Neuroscience. 2020 Sep 15;444:43–53. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.07.029.S0306-4522(20)30472-3
    1. Kassel J. Smoking and attention: a review and reformulation of the stimulus-filter hypothesis. Clin Psychol Rev. 1997;17(5):451–78. doi: 10.1016/s0272-7358(97)00032-9.
    1. McClernon FJ, Froeliger B, Rose JE, Kozink RV, Addicott MA, Sweitzer MM, Westman EC, Van Wert DM. The effects of nicotine and non-nicotine smoking factors on working memory and associated brain function. Addict Biol. 2016 Jul 22;21(4):954–61. doi: 10.1111/adb.12253.
    1. Dale G, Kattner F, Bavelier D, Green Cs. Cognitive abilities of action video game and role-playing video game players: data from a massive open online course. Psychol Popul Media. 2020 Jul;9(3):347–58. doi: 10.1037/ppm0000237.
    1. Posner MI, Rothbart MK, Tang Y. Enhancing attention through training. Curr Opin Behav Sci. 2015 Aug;4:1–5. doi: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2014.12.008.
    1. Fritz B. Video game borrows page from Hollywood playbook. Los Angeles Times. 2009. [2022-01-01]. .
    1. How much does it cost to make a game? Auroch Digital. [2022-01-01]. .
    1. Schlam TR, Baker TB. Playing around with quitting smoking: a randomized pilot trial of mobile games as a craving response strategy. Games Health J. 2020 Feb 01;9(1):64–70. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2019.0030.
    1. Sverdlov O, van Dam J, Hannesdottir K, Thornton-Wells T. Digital therapeutics: an integral component of digital innovation in drug development. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2018 Jul;104(1):72–80. doi: 10.1002/cpt.1036. doi: 10.1002/cpt.1036.

Source: PubMed

Sponsor e collaboratori

Condizioni mediche

Interventi farmacologici

3
Sottoscrivi