Intervention on Socio-emotional Development and Well-being Through ICTs in Early Adulthood (EMOWELL)

Intervention Through an Intelligent Technological Platform for Social-emotional Development and the Promotion of Well-being in Adolescence and Early Adulthood

emoWELL is a serious game, that is, a video game designed to inform and train in skills and competencies in a more dynamic way. emoWELL focuses on understanding and developing healthy emotional regulation strategies to improve well-being.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Emotion Regulation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Participation in a socio-emotional competence program through a technological platform (EMOWELL)

Detailed Description

Computer-based videogame. The program has a graphic adventure format, where the player controls an avatar who embarks on a train journey. Throughout this journey, the train will make five different stops where the player will learn about emotional regulation through activities or puzzles, readings and different interventions with the game's characters. At the first stop, the player will receive psychoeducation about emotional regulation and the most frequent adaptive and maladaptive regulation strategies. In the next three areas, exercises will be carried out to apply these strategies on variables such as self-esteem, self-care, stress, time management and social support. Finally, in the last area, the player will review the different contents learned. In addition to the train and the five stops or areas described, the game includes the area of the avatar's house and a final scenario that will vary depending on the player's answers throughout the adventure, in order to highlight the most important learning and conclude the game. Therefore, emoWELL consists of 8 areas in total.

The intervention is carried out autonomously. In addition to the computer game, emoWELL is linked to a mobile application so that the user can practice, integrate and reinforce the knowledge learned in the remote game, being both platforms indispensable in the intervention.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 385
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Valencian Comunity
    • Valencia, Valencian Comunity, Spain, 46020
      • Spain

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• To have signed the informed consent (or their legal tutors).
• Being between 18 and 29 years old.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to understand the activities or the language used.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental: Intervention group	Behavioral: Participation in a socio-emotional competence program through a technological platform (EMOWELL); (1) Participants who meet the inclusion criteria will be contacted. (2) Participants will answer the questionnaire battery (T1) (3) Participants will participate in the intervention by remotely playing the EMOWELL desktop serious game and the EMOWELL app. (4) They will answer the T2 questionnaires.
No Intervention: No Intervention: Control group

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA-S)	The Spanish version is composed of 31 items. It is answered using a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 3 (strongly agree). A higher score on a scale means a greater presence of these categories in the stage. It assesses the different characteristics of emerging adulthood: identity exploration, experimentation/possibilities, negativity/instability, other-centered, self-centered, feeling in between.	Time 1 (first month)
Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA-S)	The Spanish version is composed of 31 items. It is answered using a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 3 (strongly agree). A higher score on a scale means a greater presence of these categories in the stage. It assesses the different characteristics of emerging adulthood: identity exploration, experimentation/possibilities, negativity/instability, other-centered, self-centered, feeling in between.	Time 2 (4th month)
Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)	The Spanish version is composed of 28 items. It is answered using a Likert scale from 1 (hardly ever) to 5 (almost always). This scale assesses difficulties associated of the emotion regulation process: emotional lack of control, life interference, lack of emotional attention, emotional confusion, and emotional rejection. Therefore, a higher score within each scale signals more difficulties in emotional regulation.	Time 1 (first month)
Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)	The Spanish version is composed of 28 items. It is answered using a Likert scale from 1 (hardly ever) to 5 (almost always). This scale assesses difficulties associated of the emotion regulation process: emotional lack of control, life interference, lack of emotional attention, emotional confusion, and emotional rejection. Therefore, a higher score within each scale signals more difficulties in emotional regulation.	Time 2 (4th month)
Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-18)	The instrument assesses cognitive strategies for emotional regulation. The version of the instrument used consists of 18 items and has five polytomous response options ranging from almost never (1) to always (5). The items are grouped into nine strategies: Rumination, Catastrophizing, Self-blaming, Blaming others, Putting in perspective, Acceptance, Positive focus, Positive reinterpretation, and Refocusing on plans; at a rate of two items per strategy.	Time 1 (first month)
Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-18)	The instrument assesses cognitive strategies for emotional regulation. The version of the instrument used consists of 18 items and has five polytomous response options ranging from almost never (1) to always (5). The items are grouped into nine strategies: Rumination, Catastrophizing, Self-blaming, Blaming others, Putting in perspective, Acceptance, Positive focus, Positive reinterpretation, and Refocusing on plans; at a rate of two items per strategy.	Time 2 (4th month)
Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWBS)	The Spanish version is composed of 39 items. It is answered using a Likert scale from 1 (totally agree) to 6 (totally disagree). A higher score on each scale indicates higher levels in the resulting dimensions of psychological well-being: Self-acceptance, Positive relationships, Autonomy, Environmental mastery, Purpose in life and Personal growth.	Time 2 (4th month)
Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)	The scale is composed by 10 items. It is answered using a 7-point Likert scale.	Time 1 (first month)
Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)	The scale is composed by 10 items. It is answered using a 7-point Likert scale.	Time 2 (4th month)
Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWBS)	The Spanish version is composed of 29 items. It is answered using a Likert scale from 1 (totally agree) to 6 (totally disagree). A higher score on each scale indicates higher levels in the resulting dimensions of psychological well-being: Self-acceptance, Positive relationships, Autonomy, Environmental mastery, Purpose in life and Personal growth.	Time 1 (first month)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE)	The RSE is an unidimensional instrument that consists of 10 items that assess self-esteem. Participants are asked to respond to each item using a four-point Likert scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree." A higher score indicates higher levels of self-esteem.	Time 1 (first month)
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE)	The RSE is an unidimensional instrument that consists of 10 items that assess self-esteem. Participants are asked to respond to each item using a four-point Likert scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree." A higher score indicates higher levels of self-esteem.	Time 2 (4th month)
Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18)	The instrument evaluates psychological distress, collected in three dimensions: anxiety, depression and somatization. It is composed of 18 items answered on a likert scale from 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Very much). Higher levels on each of these scales imply higher levels of anxiety, depression or somatization, respectively.	Time 1 (first month)
Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18)	The instrument evaluates psychological distress, collected in three dimensions: anxiety, depression and somatization. It is composed of 18 items answered on a likert scale from 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Very much). Higher levels on each of these scales imply higher levels of anxiety, depression or somatization, respectively.	Time 2 (4th month)
Three-item loneliness scale (TILS)	This scale evaluates the perception of loneliness. It is composed of three items answered on a Likert scale from 0 (Almost never) to 2 (Frequently). The higher the score, the greater the perception of loneliness.	Time 1 (first month)
Three-item loneliness scale (TILS)	This scale evaluates the perception of loneliness. It is composed of three items answered on a Likert scale from 0 (Almost never) to 2 (Frequently). The higher the score, the greater the perception of loneliness.	Time 2 (4th month)
''Optimism questionnaire'' (COP)	The last instrument presented is composed of 9 items. It evaluates the optimism of the participants. It is answered on a Likert scale from 1 to 5. A higher score implies higher levels of optimism.	Time 1 (first month)
''Optimism questionnaire'' (COP)	The last instrument presented is composed of 9 items. It evaluates the optimism of the participants. It is answered on a Likert scale from 1 to 5. A higher score implies higher levels of optimism.	Time 2 (4th month)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Valencia
• Collaborators: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Velert-Jimenez S, Sanchez-Sanchez H, Perez-Marin M, Gil-Gomez JA, Montoya-Castilla I. Emotion regulation intervention to promote well-being through a serious game (emoWELL): a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial in Spanish emerging adults. BMJ Open. 2025 Jul 16;15(7):e098230. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-098230.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): August 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 14, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 19, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): September 22, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 30, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 29, 2026
• Last Verified: June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: well-being; young adulthood; Information and Communication Technologies (ICT); emotional Intelligence
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Social Behavior; Self-Control; Emotional Regulation
• Other Study ID Numbers: PID2020-114425RB

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No