A Nunavut community-directed Inuit youth mental wellness initiative: making I-SPARX fly

Abstract

Inuit youth in Nunavut (NU) are resilient but face a protracted suicide crisis. The SPARX serious game and e-intervention, developed originally in New Zealand, teaches youth cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) skills to ameliorate stress and depression. Inuit youth in NU reviewed and culturally adapted SPARX and an existing wellness outcome measure for Inuit. One hundred and twenty-one youth, aged 13 to 24, across NU then tested, played, and evaluated I(nuit)-SPARX, showing improvement in several areas of wellbeing post-play. Youth completed a CBT skills survey, engaged in sharing circles to assess CBT skill retention, and shared their thoughts about the usefulness and cultural fit of I-SPARX with Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ). Communication Skills, Listening Skills, and Problem Solving emerged as the most helpful learned CBT skills, and NU youth provided real-world examples of using I-SPARX skills to support their mental wellness. Several principles of IQ were exemplified and upheld in the content of the adapted SPARX tool and the process of the project as a whole. Empirically grounded, asynchronous e-tools, developed in collaboration with Inuit communities to ensure cultural specificity, may support psychological wellness in communities where mental health resources are scarce.

Keywords: Community-based participatory action research; Inuit; adolescent health; cognitive behavioural therapy; mental wellness; serious games.

Figure A1.

Screenshot of a video demonstrating several stylistic adaptations made to the original SPARX to develop I-SPARX. Stylistic adaptations depicted in the “after” section include elements such as Arctic landscapes and Inuit clothing. Please see: https://youtu.Be/rZuh3giJYMM?si=irpnrfloxydx6vpg for the full video.

Figure A2.

A visual demonstrating several stylistic adaptations made to the original SPARX to develop I-SPARX. Stylistic adaptations depicted in the “after” section include elements such as Arctic landscapes and animals (Tulugaq/Raven), Inuit clothing and tools (kakivak). Used with permission of the copyright owner © Auckland UniServices limited.

Figure A3.

Screenshot of character customisation in Inuktitut.

Figure A4.

Screenshot of the circle of hope. The figures around the circle of hope represent Arctic animals and include a polar bear, arctic fox, narwhal, muskox, arctic hare, beluga, and snowy owl.

Figure B1.

List of questions used during the interviews/sharing circles conducted with youth post-play to discuss the skills they learned while playing, their opinion on the appropriateness of CBT with Inuit culture and IQ, and their thoughts on the cultural elements of the game. Questions were posed using a semi-structured approach to guide discussion.

Figure C1.

A summative timeline and overview of project activities from adaptation of the SPARX game (phase 1) to the territory-wide testing and knowledge mobilisation (phases 3-4) phases of the I-SPARX project.

Figure D2.

Example of a knowledge mobilisation poster detailing the I-SPARX results in Inuktitut.

Figure D3.

Example of a knowledge mobilisation poster detailing the I-SPARX results in Inuinnaqtun.

Figure D4.

Example of a knowledge mobilisation poster detailing the I-SPARX results in English.

Figure E1.

List of questions used in the post-play evaluation survey to understand which of the skills taught in I-SPARX youth found most useful and how they used these skills in their everyday lives.

Figure G1.

Lattice plot showing changes in scores on each item of the outcome measure from pre- to post-gameplay at α = .05.

Figure G2.

Lattice plot showing changes in scores on each item of the outcome measure from pre- to post- gameplay at α = .05 for the workshop and individual gameplay groups to assess differences in improvement between the groups from pre- to post- gameplay.

Figure H1.

In the post-play survey, participants were asked to rank which of the 12 core CBT skills taught throughout I-SPARX they found most helpful in their everyday lives.