Abstract
In emergency contexts such as the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health risk factors affect children and may affect behavioral and emotional problems including anxiety, self-blame, emotional disturbance, and stress. Preventive measures are crucial to address these health risks. Research highlights strength-based factors, such as socio-emotional skills and prosocial behaviors, as important for childhood development and socio-emotional wellbeing. Yet, the initial evidence base shows mixed effectiveness and insufficient behavior change theory application into socio-emotional and prosocial digital game interventions. Additionally, few interventions are designed with a clear process to convert theory into practical game solutions and very limited guidance on the digital game development process exists. This study describes the Intervention Mapping Protocol (IMP) and theory application in the design of a digital game intervention which aims to strengthen social-emotional skills development and promote prosocial behavior in 8–11-year-old children. The method systematically describes the steps of the IMP process in detail to guide future theory-based game design. The results explain the final digital game prototype that was co-designed with continuous input and insights provided by stakeholders and feedback from children. This paper contributes to our understanding of theory application in the design of digital game interventions focused on health and behavior change and provides much needed guidance on how theory and stakeholder input can be incorporated into a final game design.
Highlights
Digital games for health are innovative and potentially effective methods for promoting health outcomes, knowledge, skills and behaviors in children [1,2]
Preventive measures for mental health issues in children are important in emergency contexts, such as the recent COVID-19 context, where children are experiencing substantial changes to their daily routine and social infrastructure, which ordinarily fosters resilience to challenging events [9]
This paper reports on the six steps of Intervention Mapping Protocol (IMP) to inform the digital game design; step 1—needs assessment, step 2—behavioral objectives and matrices of change, step 3—change methods and strategies, step 4—program production and materials, step 5—program implementation plan and step 6—evaluation plan
Summary
Digital games for health are innovative and potentially effective methods for promoting health outcomes, knowledge, skills and behaviors in children [1,2]. While digital games have been used with children in several contexts [3,4], limited attention has been given to creating digital games that leverage strengths for promoting socio-emotional skills and prosocial behaviors that are crucial for children’s development [5,6]. The purpose of this research is to describe the process of applying theory and empirical evidence to the design of a digital game intervention to promote socio-emotional skills and prosocial behavior in. Increasing socio-emotional skills is crucial for children’s wellbeing and development, and acts as a protective factor against mental illness and maladjustment [7,8]. The mental health risk factors that affect children include lost support of friends and family [9] and household psychological distress [10].
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