The Evaluation of a School Climate Videogame Intervention

A randomized control trial of a videogame intervention to assess and improve school climate.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Self Efficacy; Cognitive Reappraisal
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: videogame; Behavioral: School Climate Assessment Survey

Detailed Description

To assess the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a videogame intervention designed to teach teens the skills in restructuring thoughts and then empowering them to take action and improve their school climate.

For this project, the play2PREVENT Lab aims to assess the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a videogame intervention designed to teach teens the skills in restructuring thoughts and then empowering them to take action and improve their school climate. Program and school staff will enroll participants between the ages of 14-19 years old to play our videogame during their after school programs. Before and after gameplay, participants will answer assessment questions related to self-efficacy, cognitive reappraisal, and dimensions of school climate. Questions will also assess participants' feedback on the videogame. Students not randomly assigned to the videogame intervention will only respond to assessment questions. The data will be transmitted electronically via Qualtrics data collection platform to the Lab for further analysis.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06510
      • Yale Center for Health & Learning Games

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years to 19 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must be a current high school student
• English-speaking
• Willing to provide minor assent
• Willing to provide parental consent (if under 18 years old)
• Willing to play/use the game/tool for about 45 minutes to 1 hour after school
• Willing to answer questions about their experiences in playing the game, questions around school climate, and questions around self-efficacy on an iPad for about 30 minutes
• Willing to participate in an optional focus group for about 30 minutes

Exclusion Criteria:

• Those that do not meet the criteria above

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Students playing videogame; The experimental group will consist of our videogame intervention including the five mini-games.	Device: videogame; A videogame intervention that is interactive and engaging that teaches adolescents how to restructure negative automatic thoughts through an adapted thought record (a technique used in cognitive behavioral therapy to improve moods) by modeling how to do so and then empower them through real-life activities to improve their school climate. The videogame intervention is comprised of five mini-games, each containing a short narrative that models how to restructure negative automatic thoughts and navigate through challenging situations that often take place in school settings. The topics of each mini-game are informed by the constructs of school climate according to the National School Climate Center. Students using the videogame intervention will be prompted to think deeply and reflect on the narratives presented in each mini-game.
Active Comparator: Students receiving school climate assessment; The control group differs from the experimental group as it includes the school climate assessment tool but excludes the mini-games	Behavioral: School Climate Assessment Survey; A school climate assessment survey will include items adapted from questions developed by the National School Climate Center. Items will assess various dimensions of school climate including safety, social media, relationships, support for learning, and environment.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Measuring self-efficacy at baseline	Participants will complete a pre-survey through a secured, data collection website (Qualtrics), before playing the videogame. Items from the general self-efficacy questionnaire will assess participants' self-efficacy at baseline. This scale uses a 5-point Likert response scale (1=Never, 2=Almost Never, 3=Sometimes, 4=Fairly Often, 5=Very Often). Total self-efficacy score ranges from 10-50.	baseline
Change in self-efficacy from baseline	Participants will complete a post-survey through a secured, data collection website (Qualtrics), immediately after playing the videogame. Items from the general self-efficacy questionnaire will assess participants' self-efficacy at baseline. This scale uses a 5-point Likert response scale (1=Never, 2=Almost Never, 3=Sometimes, 4=Fairly Often, 5=Very Often). Total self-efficacy score ranges from 10-50.	immediately after playing the videogame
Measuring emotional self-efficacy at baseline	Participants will complete a pre-survey through a secured, data collection website (Qualtrics), at baseline. Items from the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C) will assess participants' emotional self-efficacy immediately before playing the game. Each of the 6 items used in the study has to be scored on a 5-point scale with 1 = not at all and 5 = very well.	baseline
Change in emotional self-efficacy from baseline	Participants will complete a post-survey through a secured, data collection website (Qualtrics), at baseline. Items from the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C) will assess participants' emotional self-efficacy immediately after playing the game. Each of the 6 items used in the study has to be scored on a 5-point scale with 1 = not at all and 5 = very well.	immediately after playing the videogame
Cognitive reappraisal scores at baseline	Participants will complete a pre-survey through a secured, data collection website (Qualtrics), at baseline. The ERQ-CA includes 6 items assessing participants' cognitive appraisal. The scale length ranges up to five points with the following options: 1) strongly disagree; 2) disagree, 3) half and half, 4) agree, 5) strongly agree. The range of scores for each scale was 6 to 30.	at baseline
Cognitive reappraisal scores at baseline	Participants will complete a post-survey through a secured, data collection website (Qualtrics), immediately after playing the videogame. Items from the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA) will assess participants' cognitive reappraisal immediately after playing the tool/game. The ERQ-CA includes 6 items assessing participants' cognitive appraisal. The scale length ranges up to five points with the following options: 1) strongly disagree; 2) disagree, 3) half and half, 4) agree, 5) strongly agree. The range of scores for each scale was 6 to 30.	immediately after playing the videogame

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Gameplay post-assessment	Participants will complete a post-survey through a secured, data collection website (Qualtrics), immediately after playing the game. Twelve items will assess intervention experience and satisfaction from items designed by members of the study team (e.g., How likely do you think completing any of the activities will help you improve how you feel about yourself, others, or social situations? Response options include very likely, likely, might or might not, unlikely, very unlikely.) These questions are not part of a larger scale.	immediately after playing the game
School Climate	Participants will complete a pre-survey through a secured, data collection website (Qualtrics), immediately before playing the videogame. Items from the National School Climate Center will be adapted and used to assess dimensions of participants' school climate, including safety, support for learning, environment, social media, and relationships. Response options include yes, no, not applicable. These questions are not part of a larger scale.	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yale University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Fernandes CF, Deng Y, Tran AH, Hieftje KD, Boomer TMP, Taylor CK, Fiellin LE. A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate a Cognitive Behavioral Videogame Intervention: empowerED. Games Health J. 2023 Feb;12(1):42-52. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2021.0118. Epub 2022 Nov 8.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 30, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): December 30, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 16, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 16, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): July 18, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 3, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 1, 2021
• Last Verified: March 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2000026033

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No