Dr Karolina Stasiak tackled the issue while completing her PhD. Using computerised Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (cCBT), she developed new generation e-therapy for young people with mild to moderate depression.
Traditionally cCBT has taken the form of static self-help texts that centre on reading content off computer screens. Yet Karolina believed a more effective approach would be one that took advantage of teens’ enthusiasm for video games. The result was The Journey, a 2-D animated ‘magical book’. It featured interactive exercises and quizzes, animated characters who talked about problems and solutions and video vignettes with teen actors. A pilot randomised controlled trial showed that adolescents who engaged with The Journey showed greater symptom improvement on the Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) than those treated with a placebo programme.
Whau Foundation awarded Karolina a grant that allowed her to hire a digital graphic designer to help bring The Journey to life on screen.
“Design was outside my realm of expertise, and it wasn’t possible to fund someone out of my PhD scholarship. Getting the Oakley grant was a god-send. The project couldn’t have gone forward without it.”
The Journey served as a prototype for the next step in cCBT’s evolution: SPARX, a 3D video game that teaches young people cognitive behavioural therapy techniques for dealing with symptoms of depression. The project, funded by the Ministry of Health and led by Professor Sally Merry at the University of Auckland, included Karolina as study manager as well as several research fellows, clinical psychologists, learning technology experts and clinicians. Two PhD and one DClinPsy project resulted, as did numerous conference presentations and publications in peer-reviewed journals, including the British Medical Journal. UNESCO awarded SPARX a 2013 Netexplo Award, given to “the ten most innovative and promising digital initiatives of the year. In April 2014 SPARX was rolled out nationally as part of the Prime Ministers Youth Mental Health Project and is freely available online at www.sparx.org.nz
Karolina continues to work in the e-therapy research area and has been a co-recipient of two other relevant grants. The first grant, with Dr Stephanie Moor (Otago University) is to investigate the effectiveness of BRAVE-ONLINE (Australian cCBT for children with anxiety) in the post-earthquake context in Christchurch. The second is with Hiran Thabrew (University of Auckland) to investigate the feasibility of developing a computer program to help children with chronic illness better cope psychologically. Karolina says, “I would like to acknowledge the Foundation’s ongoing support for the line of work our team is dedicated to.”
