Accepted for/Published in: Interactive Journal of Medical Research
Date Submitted: Jan 1, 2025
Date Accepted: Dec 1, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
A Scoping Review: Exploring the Role of Serious Game for Combating Postnatal Depression in New Parents
ABSTRACT
Perinatal mental health issue are now recognised as a significant public health concern all over the world. The global prevalence of Postnatal Depression (PND) was found to be approximately 17.22%. Current reviews lack focus on digital interventions targeting parents in late pregnancy or postnatal stages, instead centering on other populations with depression. Few address how gamified interventions can promote help-seeking behaviors for PND. Existing studies prioritize symptom relief over fostering help-seeking behaviors. Therefore, this study aims at identifying what serious games have been applied to support the treatment of PND and what gaps are still left to explore. As a result of this search and filter process, 13 works were completely reviewed, analyzed and categorized in this paper. In the reviewed papers the games found include serious games, casual video game, game-based learning program, gamification apps and commercial games. Implications of these finding for the application of serious games to PND will be discussed.
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