Using a digital game for training desirable behavior in cogrnitive-behavioral therapy for burnout syndrome: a controlled study Zielhorst, T.; van den Brule, D.; Visch, V.; Melles, M.; van Tienhoven, S.; Sinkbaek, H.; Schrieken, B.A.L.; Tan, E.S.H.; Lange, A. Published in:Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking DOI:10.1089/cyber.2013.0690 Link to publicationCitation for published version (APA): Zielhorst, T., van den Brule, D., Visch, V., Melles, M., van Tienhoven, S., Sinkbaek, H., ... Lange, A. (2015). Using a digital game for training desirable behavior in cogrnitive-behavioral therapy for burnout syndrome: a controlled study. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(2), 101-111. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2013.0690 General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. Burnout is a globally increasing illness, and as a result, many forms of burnout therapy have arisen. The use of digital games can be psychotherapeutically effective because they can transform exercises that are by themselves unattractive into intrinsically motivated action. This pilot study aims to test whether a specially designed game contributes to patients learning desired behavior and achieving other specific therapeutic goals in an online cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)-based burnout treatment context. In total, 101 participants took part in the experiment, under four conditions: (a) Game + Therapy, (b) Therapy Only, (c) Game Only, and (d) No Game + No Therapy. Pre-and postmeasures were taken online. Results showed that the two therapy conditions (Game + Therapy and Therapy Only) showed a greater decrease in complaints and disengagement, and a stronger increase in coping skills than the nontherapy conditions (Game Only and No Game + No Therapy). As expected, the Game + Therapy condition outperformed the Therapy Only condition on combined improvement measures of burnout symptoms. However, analyses of individual measures showed no effects. It can be cautiously concluded that the therapeutic digital game may be a useful tool when embedded in a therapeutic burnout treatment program and is probably more efficient than CBT, as it is used in current practice.