Training Behavioral Control in Adolescents Using a Serious Game

Abstract

Risk taking, such as heavy alcohol use, is commonplace among adolescents. Nevertheless, prolonged alcohol use at this age can lead to severe health problems. The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a serious game training ("The Fling"), aimed at increasing behavioral control in adolescents and thereby helping them to improve control over their alcohol use. The game training was compared to a game placebo and a nongame training version in a randomized controlled trial. A sample of 185 adolescents (mean age 14.9 years) in secondary education participated in the study. They performed four sessions of training, as well as a set of questionnaires and cognitive assessment tasks before and after the training. The basis for the training was the stop-signal paradigm, aimed at increasing behavioral control. The game variants were shown to motivate adolescents beyond the level of the nongame version. Behavioral control improved significantly over time, but this effect was also present in the game placebo, suggesting that the game activities alone may have had a beneficial effect on our measures of behavioral control. As baseline drinking levels were low, no significant training effects on drinking behavior were found. Although the current results are not yet conclusive as to whether "The Fling" is effective as a cognitive training, they do warrant further research in this direction. This study also shows that serious games may be uniquely suitable to bridge the gap between an evidence-based training paradigm and an attractive, motivating training environment.