Research on Alleviating Children's Nighttime Fear Using a Digital Game.

Wen Huei Chou,Ching-Chih Hsu,Han-Xing Chen

doi:10.3390/children9030405

Wen Huei Chou, Ching-Chih Hsu + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030405

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Abstract

Nighttime fear is common among children and may negatively affect their growth. Given the positive role of digital games in regulating children’s emotions, in this study, we proposed principles for the design of a digital game to alleviate children’s nighttime fears and developed a game prototype based on a survey of children and their parents. In order to verify whether digital games can reduce children’s fears, the Koala Fear Questionnaire (KFQ) was used to assess the effectiveness of the game prototype in an experiment. We adopted a quasi-experimental design with non-randomized samples, including 47 subjects in the experimental group (EG) and 49 subjects in the control group (CG). The results of the analysis show that the children in the EG displayed an obvious decrease in their fear of the objects that appeared in the game. Moreover, for some children with a moderate level of fear, playing digital games could significantly reduce their fear. Therefore, this preliminary study suggests that digital games have a positive effect on alleviating children’s nighttime fears.

Highlights

IntroductionFear is one of the most common human emotions and an important mechanism of selfdefense [1,2]
The second phase transformed the understanding of nighttime fear objects and coping methods obtained in the first phase into game design principles and plans, and the game prototype was developed
The test adopted a quasi-experimental design with non-randomized samples, allowing the children in the experimental group (EG) to try the game prototype developed in the second phase, as well as allowing for the collection of the pre-test and post-test data from the EG and the control group (CG)

Summary

Introduction

Fear is one of the most common human emotions and an important mechanism of selfdefense [1,2]. There are many types of fear, and fear of the night is quite common among children. The incidence of nighttime fear in children aged 7–9 and 10–12 years has reached. After the age of 13, the incidence of children’s nighttime fear declines, but it remains at a high rate [4]. Nighttime fear may lead to children’s inability to concentrate during the day, anxiety [5,6], and a loss of confidence, and could even affect their daily lives [7]. The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child [8] pointed out that, if children are in fear for an extended period, the development of their brain will be adversely affected. If children fail to overcome fear in time, they may grow up with fear [9]. A player-operated characterwith withthe theabilability to jump, explore, and hide.

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