REThinkGame4training: Training Emotion Regulation Abilities Using an Online Therapeutic Game

September 23, 2024 updated by: Oana David, Babes-Bolyai University
To test the efficacy of the REThink therapeutic game in training emotion regulation abilities of children and adolescents.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the REThink therapeutic game in training emotion regulation abilities in children aged 8 to 12 years. The participants will be recruitedfrom various schools and counties, ensuring a diverse sample. Those in the experimental group will engage with the REThink game over a four-week period. To assess the impact of the intervention, standardized pre-test and post-test measures will be administered, allowing for a comparison of mental health outcomes before and after the use of the therapeutic game. The study seeks to determine whether this digital tool can serve as an effective training for improving emotion regulation abilities in this age group.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

237

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Romania
      • Cluj-Napoca, Romania
        • Babes-Bolyai University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • children and adolescents aged 8 to 12 years
  • non-clinical levels of mental health symptoms on any SDQ subscale or total score
  • parental consent provided

Exclusion Criteria:

  • intellectual disability or physical limitations precluding the use of the online game
  • does not have parental informed consent
  • clinical or subclinical level on the SDQ measure, total score, or any subscale

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental: REThink therapeutic game
Participants in the experimental group will received the game-based intervention called REThink Game
Behavioral: The REThink Game
REThink is an online therapeutic game designed to improve the emotional well-being of young people, based on the principles of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). The game features a character named RETMAN, who leads players through seven levels, each dedicated to teaching a particular emotional regulation skill. Each level consists of three sub-levels that gradually become more challenging. REThink can be utilized as a standalone intervention, as a complement to self-help psychotherapeutic methods, or for focused skills training in emotional regulation. Each level trains a specific emoion-regulation skills such as emotion recognition, relaxation, cognitive change, problem solving, compassion and self-compassion.
No Intervention: Control: Care as usual
Participants in the control group do not receive an intervention but they have access to standard resources from the school

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Emotion regulation abilities
Time Frame: baseline assessment, one week before starting the intervention
The Emotion Regulation Index for Children and Adolescents (ERICA; Biesecker & Easterbrooks, 2001). The 13 items are measured on a five-point Likert scale, from 0 -strong disagreement to 5 - strong agreement-; where higher scores represent better emotional regulation abilities. The scale has two subscales namely, emotional control ( lowest score 8 and highest 40) and emotional awareness subscales (lowest score 5, and highest 25).
baseline assessment, one week before starting the intervention
Changes in emotion regulation abilities
Time Frame: post-test assessment, one week after finishing the intervention
The Emotion Regulation Index for Children and Adolescents (ERICA; Biesecker & Easterbrooks, 2001). The 13 items are measured on a five-point Likert scale, from 0 -strong disagreement to 5 - strong agreement-; where higher scores represent better emotional regulation abilities. The scale has two subscales namely, emotional control ( lowest score 8 and highest 40) and emotional awareness subscales (lowest score 5, and highest 25).
post-test assessment, one week after finishing the intervention
Irrationality
Time Frame: baseline assessment, one week before starting the intervention
The Child and Adolescent Scale of Irrationality (CASI, Bernard & Cronan, 1999) will be used in order to test irrational/rational beliefs as a mechanism of change. Children and adolescents were asked to express their agreement/disagreement with the 28 statements on a 5-point Likert-type scale, from 1 ("strong disagreement") to 5 ("strong agreement"). The minimum score is 28 and the maximum score is 140. Higher scores represent higher levels of irrationality.
baseline assessment, one week before starting the intervention
Changes in irrationality
Time Frame: post-test assessment, one week after finishing the intervention
The Child and Adolescent Scale of Irrationality (CASI, Bernard & Cronan, 1999) will be used in order to test irrational/rational beliefs as a mechanism of change. Children and adolescents were asked to express their agreement/disagreement with the 28 statements on a 5-point Likert-type scale, from 1 ("strong disagreement") to 5 ("strong agreement"). The minimum score is 28 and the maximum score is 140. Higher scores represent higher levels of irrationality.
post-test assessment, one week after finishing the intervention

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Mental health symthoms
Time Frame: baseline assessment, inclusion criteria
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997). The scale has 25-items within its five subscales, namely emotional symptoms (ES), conduct problems (CP), hyperactivity/inattention (HY), peer relationship (PR) problems and prosocial behavior (PS) and total mental health difficulties score (MHD). The items are rated on a 3-point Likert scale, from 0 (not true) to 2 (certainly true). The minimum score is 0 and the maximum is 40. Higher scores represent higher level of mental health difficulties.
baseline assessment, inclusion criteria

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Babes-Bolyai University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 1, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

July 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 23, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 23, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

September 25, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 25, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 23, 2024

Last Verified

September 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • REThinkGame4training

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

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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