Innovative Applications of Gamification in Computational Psychiatry

Computational psychiatry is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to modeling cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of psychiatric conditions using quantitative approaches. While computational tasks are fundamental to research in this area, traditional tasks have often struggled with low engagement and limited ecological validity. This limitation has restricted the clinical utility and real-world applicability of findings. Gamification—ranging from enhanced visual and auditory design to fully narrative-driven gaming experiences—has emerged as a promising approach to address these issues, but systematic evaluation of its impact is still limited.

Integrating gamification offers the potential to improve participant engagement and task realism, potentially leading to richer and more meaningful data. Gamification can range from superficially enriching existing tasks with brighter visuals and sounds, to reimagining them as narrative-driven, interactive games closer to traditional videogames. However, this emerging strategy has also introduced questions regarding standardization, challenges in balancing rigor with user experience and potential biases introduced by game elements. There is a need to understand not only the benefits but also the possible pitfalls of various gamification strategies in computational psychiatry.

This Research Topic aims to explore diverse methods and perspectives on gamification in computational psychiatry, evaluating its promise and limitations. We aim to clarify which circumstances benefit from gamification, identify specific features that increase and drive engagement and consider how gamification can introduce confounding variable and potential effects on clinical validity. Papers should aim to explore pathways for using gamification to optimize scientific value in future computational psychiatry research.

We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Comparative assessments of traditional versus gamified behavioral tasks in psychiatric populations.
- Design, implementation, and validation of gamified experiments for computational psychiatry.
- Evaluation of engagement metrics and mechanisms for enhancing participant motivation.
- Studies using gamification to improve population level screening.
- Case studies showcasing the effectiveness or challenges of specific gamification approaches.
- Methodological considerations, such as potential biases and limitations of gamified designs.
- Theoretical perspectives on the influence of gamification on data quality and generalizability.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review

Keywords: gamification, tasks, psychiatric tests, ecological validity, computational psychiatry, data quality, methodological design, method

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.