Digital media practices have varied implications for the mental health of youth, notably as a function of sociocultural and environmental factors. However, there are limited tools available to guide the assessment of digital culture in clinical practice. This study will aim to design and pilot test an interview tool for the assessment of youth digital culture, as a companion to the Cultural Formulation Interview which broadly assesses cultural factors in mental healthcare.

We will recruit youth aged 16–35 years and receiving mental healthcare in Montreal, Canada, to codesign (n=10) and evaluate (n=20) the interview tool. We will also recruit clinician participants (n=10) to provide feedback on the interview. The tool will be developed with codesign participants using the nominal group technique and subsequently tested with the evaluation participants. We will provide the evaluation participants and clinicians with a written summary of the interview and will assess their perspectives on the feasibility, acceptability and utility of the interview method through surveys and debriefing interviews. We will conduct reflexive thematic analysis of the interview transcripts and descriptive quantitative analyses of the feasibility, acceptability and utility scores.

The study received ethical approval from the Research Ethics Board of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal (MP-18-2025-1164). The results will be interpreted in consultation with codesign participants and will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, workshops for clinicians and academic conferences.

Video games have been linked to a range of positive and negative effects on the mental health of adolescents and young adults. However, to better understand how games affect the mental health of young people, their use and experiences must be situated in the sociocultural and personal life contexts of individuals. Drawing from a cultural-ecosocial approach, this study combines cross-sectional and digital phenotyping measures to examine the effects of video games on the mental health of youth.

Participants will be young people aged 16–25 years from the community and living in the province of Quebec, Canada. An initial sample of 1000 youth will complete a cross-sectional survey online, including measures of socio-demographic context, gaming practices and experiences, streaming practices and experiences, as well as personality and well-being. Qualitative questions will explore personal views on games and mental health. A subsample of 100 participants will be selected for digital phenotyping, including daily surveys of well-being, gaming, streaming and social experiences, combined with passive mobile sensing (eg, geolocation). Analyses will include regression and mixed models for quantitative data, reflexive thematic analysis for qualitative data, and an integration of quantitative and qualitative results using participatory methods.

The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of McGill University (24-02-015). The dissemination of results will be conducted in partnership with a multi-stakeholder advisory committee, including youth who play video games, and will involve peer-reviewed publications, presentations to policymakers in Quebec, and workshops for clinicians and researchers.