Built In just released an excellent story about the science, mission and #TechForGood design principles that make SuperBetter a usual suspect on media lists of best apps for mental health & wellbeing.

Built In is a respected tech industry publisher and community builder. Their vision is to connect the world through a shared passion for tech and the human need for purpose. Built In was excited to share the SuperBetter case study as a source of ‘Tech for Good’ insights for their community of product designers.

The title is “How to Gamify Wellbeing Without Missing the Point.”

You can read the story here.

SuperBetter builds resilience to overcome tough situations and achieve goals that matter most. While best known for benefits related to mental health and recovery, one of the top 5 reasons for playing SuperBetter is to achieve epic wins related to working out or getting fit. 

In this study that analyzed and rated 52 exercise and physical activity games and apps for the inclusion of health behavior theory (HBT) principles, SuperBetter received the highest score by far, 76 out of a maximum score of 100. The average score across all apps included in the study was 14.98 out of 100. The study was published in the journal JMIR Serious Games.  

Chronic pain is one of the top 10 reasons people play SuperBetter. 

Now, a recent study evaluating 19 smartphone apps found SuperBetter to be one of three apps that fulfilled the highest number of best-practice criteria for supporting the self-management of chronic pain. These best practices include strategies such as self-efficacy building, self-tailoring of activities, goal setting & planning, problem solving and social support. Researchers screened a total of 939 apps to find the 19 that met the criteria as a chronic pain app to be included in the study.

People around the world play SuperBetter to be stronger and more successful at achieving goals and overcoming challenges across many areas of their lives, including their mental health.  

Today, we have great news to share — especially for those playing SuperBetter to tackle depression, anxiety and other challenges related to mental health. Psych Hub has partnered with SuperBetter to provide access to a library of high quality educational videos featuring mental health topics. These videos are available at no cost to the SuperBetter Community.

We are proud that SuperBetter is backed by science.

One of the studies evaluating the effectiveness of SuperBetter is a randomized controlled trial conducted at the University of Pennsylvania.  In that study, participants who played SuperBetter for 30 days had significantly reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, and increased optimism, self-efficacy, perceived social support and life satisfaction.

Today, only a tiny fraction of mental health & wellbeing apps have been evaluated in peer-reviewed scientific studies; however, the number of apps with studies has now grown large enough that researchers are able to conduct meta-analysis, which are studies that look across the all of the randomized controlled trials in a given area to draw conclusions. The SuperBetter UPENN study is included in two of these meta-analysis.