Abstract
Unprecedented levels of access to adolescents' time and attention provide opportunities to convert traditional character and socioemotional competencies interventions into behavioral intervention technologies. However, these new tools must be evaluated rather than assuming previously validated activities will be efficacious when converted to a mobile platform. Thus, we sought to design and provide initial data on the effectiveness of the CharacterMe smartphone app to build self-control and patience, which are built on underlying social-emotional regulation competencies, in a sample of 618 adolescents (Mage = 16.07, Female = 56.6%). We also sought to examine whether framing the app activities as having a transcendent (spiritual connection or moral/prosocial) rather than instrumental purpose would increase engagement and change in self-control, patience, and emotion regulation. Finally, we tested the impact of framing activities as building strengths vs. fixing weaknesses. Results highlight the difficulty of translating psychological interventions to behavioral intervention technologies. Overall, the CharacterMe smartphone app was unsuccessful in increasing self-control, patience, or emotion regulation in adolescents, with analyses showing no significant mean changes over time. Framing conditions and user engagement were largely not significant predictors of change in self-control, patience, and emotion regulation.
Highlights
Adolescents around the world have access to smartphones and spend significant amounts of time on their mobile devices
At the time we developed our app, there were over a dozen studies that suggested enhancing domain specific selfcontrol through small acts of practice translated to enhanced self-control in other domains for adults
We sought to examine whether framing the app activities as having a transcendent rather than instrument purpose would increase engagement and change in self-control, patience, and emotion regulation (H3)
Summary
Adolescents around the world have access to smartphones and spend significant amounts of time on their mobile devices. Rates of adolescents’ smartphone access are at or above 95% for most developed nations and unrelated to parental income (Madden et al, 2013; Yong-Wan et al, 2017). Efficacy of CharacterMe App their devices (Anderson and Jiang, 2018), and South Korean youth aged 10–19 report using their smartphones an average of 11 h per week (Yong-Wan et al, 2017). Given that smartphone use shows no signs of decreasing, it is imperative that researchers and designers work together to increase the ways adolescents can engage technology in a beneficial manner
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