SPARX (Smart, Positive, Active, Realistic, X-factor thoughts) is a free online computer game intended to help young people with mild to moderate depression,

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

. Through the game, this e-therapy will teach them how to resolve their issues on their own, according to a talking psychotherapeutic approach called cognitive behavioural therapy. Before taking part in this game, a personality test is required to determine if SPARX will be suited and helpful for the future user.

Game scenario

Based in a 3D fantasy world, the game leads players through seven realms (each lasting between 30 and 40 minutes). At the beginning of SPARX, the user meets the Guide who explains what SPARX is and how it could help. Then the user customizes an

avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

and starts to journey within the seven provinces in order to complete different quests. In the first level, gamers challenge GNATS (Gloomy Negative Automatic Thoughts). These GNATS fly towards the avatar and say negative things like, for example: "you're a loser". Further, in the game, the user meets different characters, solves puzzles, and completes mini-games. As soon as a quest is completed, the Guide explains how to use new skills in order to feel better, solve problems, and enjoy real life. Players complete one or two levels in the game each week, during three to seven weeks.

Development

Behind the SPARX project is a team of researchers and clinicians from

The University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...

. Pr Sally Merry, Dr Karolina Stasiak, Dr Theresa Fleming, Dr Matt Shepherd and Dr Mathijs Lucassen created it. Associate Professor Sally Merry is a child and adolescent Psychiatrist, Head of Department of Psychological Medicine and Director of The Werry Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Dr Stasiak also coordinated the main study of SPARX. Drs Fleming, Shepherd and Lucassen carried out doctoral studies of SPARX. In 2011, SPARX won the World Summit Award, supervised by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, in the category of e-Health and Environment which honors excellence in multimedia and e-Content creation. SPARX was also rewarded by the 2013 International Digital Award from Netexplo, hosted by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, for being the first out of ten most innovative and promising digital initiative of the year. After a such success, in 2012 Dr Lucassen decided to develop another version of SPARX entitled Rainbow SPARX to help adolescents attracted to the same sex, or both sexes, or unsure of their sexuality. According to a small study carried out by Mathijs Lucassen, himself, more than 80% of the participants said that the game helped them to deal with their sexuality, and would recommend it to other people.

References

External links

The effectiveness of SPARX
{{VideoGameGenre 2013 video games Video games developed in New Zealand Video games set in 2013 Educational video games Fantasy video games