A poor diet has severe detrimental health effects, and attempts to reduce caloric intake often prove unsuccessful. Unhealthy foods, high in fat, sugar, and salt tend to be highly appetitive, and can undermine individuals’ ability to refrain themselves from consuming them. Computerized cognitive retraining techniques have shown promise in curbing the intake of unhealthy foods and promoting weight loss. However, in real-world scenarios, adherence to such retraining programs can be suboptimal, potentially diminishing their effectiveness.

 

In the present study, Maclellan et al. (2024) aimed to investigate whether the incorporation of gamified elements, transforming the cognitive retraining task into a game-like experience, can enhance adherence and overall intervention effectiveness by boosting engagement and motivation.

 

Upon testing the main hypotheses, the authors found mostly non-significant effects of adding gamified elements to adherence, motivation, or effectiveness of food response inhibition training programs. These results hold high relevance, as indeed there has been a push in introducing gamified elements to cognitive retraining programs. These findings should guide future developments in the field of cognitive retraining.

 

The Stage 2 manuscript was evaluated over one round of review and revision. Based on detailed evaluations by two expert reviewers, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 2 criteria and awarded a positive recommendation.

 

Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that was used to answer the research question was generated until after IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 

• Addiction Research & Theory
• Advances in Cognitive Psychology
• Collabra: Psychology
• Journal of Cognition
• Peer Community Journal
• PeerJ
• Royal Society Open Science
• Studia Psychologica
• Swiss Psychology Open
   

 

MacLellan, A., Pennington, C. R., Lawrence, N., Westwood, S. J., Jones, A., Slegrova, A., Sung, B., Parker, L., Relph, L., Miranda, J. O., Shakeel, M., Mouka, E., Lovejoy, C., Chung, C., Lash, S., Suhail, Y., Nag M., and Button​, K. S. (2024). The effects of isolated game elements on adherence rates in food response inhibition training​ [Stage 2]. Acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports.

A poor diet has severe detrimental health effects, and attempts to reduce caloric intake often prove unsuccessful. Unhealthy foods, high in fat, sugar, and salt tend to be highly appetitive, and can undermine individuals’ ability to refrain themselves from consuming them. Computerized cognitive retraining techniques have shown promise in curbing the intake of unhealthy foods and promoting weight loss. However, in real-world scenarios, adherence to such retraining programs can be suboptimal, potentially diminishing their effectiveness.

 

In the present study, Maclellan et al. (2023) aim to investigate whether the incorporation of gamified elements, transforming the cognitive retraining task into a game-like experience, can enhance adherence and overall intervention effectiveness by boosting engagement and motivation. These findings could deepen our understanding of the mechanisms through which cognitive retraining mitigates caloric intake and pave the way for more compelling and successful interventions.

 

The Stage 1 manuscript was evaluated over one round of review and revision. Based on detailed evaluations by two expert reviewers, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and therefore awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA).

 

URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/jspf3 (under temporary private embargo)

Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 

How can qualitative research and case studies inform theoretical models of gaming disorder? Gaming Disorder has generated a large amount of research, with up to 95% of it focusing on quantitative studies. As a result, most of the meta-analyses and review studies focus on quantitative research and disregard qualitative approaches. However, studying the direct experiences of gamers can provide more detailed and direct evidence that can feed into theoretical models. 

 

In this Stage 1 manuscript, Auranen et al. (2024) will perform a qualitative meta-analysis of gaming disorder case studies, case reports, and case series of treatment-seekers using a 3-phase approach. First, they will focus on examining the reported problems of participants, the reported reasons for seeking help to reduce their gaming, and the causal link between gaming and reported problems, including the context of these problematic behaviors. Second, thematic synthesis will generate construct themes regarding the contexts of the individuals and the reported problems. Lastly, the authors will examine the relevance of findings in regards to the coping model, value fulfillment theory and the theory of cultural dissonance.

 

The Stage 1 submission was evaluated by the recommender and three expert reviewers, one of which was recused due to conflicts of interest that emerged after the first round of revisions. The recommender and co-recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and therefore awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA).

 

 

Level of bias control achieved: Level 4. At least some of the data/evidence that will be used to answer the research question already exists AND is accessible in principle to the authors (e.g. residing in a public database or with a colleague), BUT the authors certify that they have not yet accessed any part of that data/evidence.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:

 

• Collabra: Psychology
• Peer Community Journal
• PeerJ
• Studia Psychologica
• Swiss Psychology Open

 
References

Auranen, T., Adamkovič, M., Martončik, M., Park, S., Kauraoja, V., Siutila, M., Jin, Y., & Karhulahti, V.-M. (2024). Gaming Disorder: A qualitative meta-synthesis of related case studies. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/hzc5a