Triberti S, Gorini A, Savioni L, Sebri V, Pravettoni G. (2019). Avatars and the disease: Digital customization as a resource for self-perception assessment in breast cancer patients. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 22(8): 558-564. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2018.0461
Researchers recruited 22 women aged 34-61 from a Milanese oncology clinic who had undergone breast cancer treatment within 3 years and owned an Android mobile device to participate in a pilot exploration of an avatar intervention to assess and promote quality-of-life in chronic illness. Researchers instructed participants to design 3 avatars: an actual self avatar (ASA), an ideal self avatar (ISA), and a self with cancer avatar (CSA) through Profile Avatar Maker 2, a commercial mobile application (app). Participants customized avatar gender, physiognomy, hair, eyes, expression, clothes, accessories, and background. Researchers evaluated participant attitudes towards the avatars through 3 questionnaires. First, participants rated the attractiveness, self-representativeness, creation difficulty, and perceived demeanor (intensity, pleasantness, and dominance) of each avatar (ASA, ISA, CSA). Two other questionnaires assessed participant depression and anxiety symptoms. Data analysis revealed that participants found CSAs less self-representative, less attractive, and less pleasant than ASAs and ISAs, but did not find CSAs more difficult to create and did not associate CSAs with more intense or difficult-to-manage emotions. Participant perspectives on ASAs exhibited significant connection to the psychological state of the participant; researchers observed an inverse correlation between ASA attractiveness and intensity ratings and anxiety and depression scores and another inverse correlation between ASA pleasantness ratings and depression scores. Further investigation of relationships between avatar self-representation and psychological state may prove avatars a valid intervention in psychological assessment, improve psycho-cognitive awareness in chronic disease treatment, and offer individuals a tool of self-expression for disease, treatment, and health experiences.