Mechanisms of change in a go/no-go training game for young adult smokers.

Objective: Smoking is a major cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Evidence-based intervention programs to help young adults quit smoking are largely lacking; identifying targets for intervention is therefore critical. A candidate target is inhibitory control, with previous studies on Go/No-Go trainings showing behavior change in the food and alcohol domain. The current study examined the mechanisms of change of HitnRun, a Go/No-Go game, in a smoking population that was motivated to quit. Method: A 2-armed experimental study (n = 106) was conducted and young adults (Mage = 22.15; SDage = 2.59) were randomly assigned to either play HitnRun or to read a psychoeducational brochure. Prior to and directly following the intervention period, smoking-specific and general inhibitory control, perceived attractiveness of smoking pictures, and weekly smoking behavior were assessed. Results: Results indicated that Go/No-Go training seems to decrease evaluations of smoking stimuli rather than top-down smoking-specific and general control processes. Similar reductions for weekly smoking were found in both groups. Conclusions: Go/No-Go training did not differentially influence smoking-specific inhibitory control, general inhibitory control and weekly smoking behavior. Go/No-Go training might be able to decrease evaluations of smoking stimuli, yet based on the current study we cannot rule out the possibility of regression to the mean. More research and iterative design is needed to better understand the potential role of Go/No-Go training in smoking cessation interventions, as well as exploring other evidence-based mechanisms (e.g., peer processes, self-efficacy) that might be an important addition to smoking cessation interventions for young people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

When winning is losing: A randomized controlled trial testing a video game to train food-specific inhibitory control.

Overweight and obesity are major causes of worldwide morbidity and mortality. A two-armed randomized controlled trial (n = 104) examined the effectiveness of Hit n Run, a video game based on the principles of Go/No-Go inhibition training, in young adults who reported disinhibited eating. Adults (aged 18 to 30) were randomly assigned to play Hit n Run or received an informative brochure (Healthy Eating Step by Step; HESbS). Prior to and directly following the intervention week general and food-specific inhibitory control, caloric intake, and perceived attractiveness of food pictures were assessed. Results revealed no improvements in food-specific inhibitory control or caloric intake in either intervention group. Similar improvements for general inhibitory control and similar decreases in perceived attractiveness of food-related stimuli were observed for both Hit n Run and HESbS. Future research should aim to clarify how video game design can implement working mechanisms of cognitive training tasks to facilitate the development of effective game-based interventions.