ERFs Game-based Assessment in AYAs: Validation of Game-based Assessment of Emotion Regulation Abilities

Validation of Game-based Assessment of Emotion Regulation Abilities Using the REThink Life Online Game in a Population of Adolescents and Young Adults

This activity will have the objective of establishing the validity of in-game emotion regulation abilities assessment for adolescents and young adults.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Emotion Regulation
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: REThink Life

Detailed Description

Each level of the REThink LIFE online game dedicated to training a specific ER skill has an assessment task for emotion recognition, stress reactivity, mindfulness and positive attention abilities. The aim of this study will be to investigate the validity of in-game performance measurements or scores as indicators of adolescents and young adults' emotion regulation abilities.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 230
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Romania
  • Cluj
    • Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania, 400015
      • Babes-Bolyai University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• adolescents and young adults with between 10 and 24 years old provided with written parental consent where applicable

Exclusion Criteria:

• intellectual disability or physical limitations precluded the use of the computer program

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: REThink Life; The participants will complete the scale measurements after receiving the four levels of the REThink Life game, each focusing on an emotion regulation skill and an associated assessment system.	Other: REThink Life; REThink Life is a therapeutic game developed by David and collaborators (2019) and it is composed of four levels, each training a different emotion regulation ability (emotion recognition, mindfulness, distinguishing between rational and irrational thoughts, and positive attention bias).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Emotion regulation	The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-short) is an 18-item scale assessing nine different emotion regulation strategies, namely Self-blame, Other-blame, Rumination, Catastrophizing, Positive refocusing, Planning, Positive reappraisal, Putting into perspective and Acceptance. Children and adolescents were asked to express the frequency of using each strategy on a 5-point Likert-type scale, from 1 ("almost never") to 5 ("almost always"). Higher scores on adaptive strategies (e.g., positive reappraisal, refocus on planning, positive refocusing, putting into perspective, acceptance) are equivalent to a better outcome (more adaptive coping). Higher scores on maladaptive strategies (e.g., rumination, catastrophizing, self-blame, other-blame) are equivalent to worse outcomes (less adaptive coping).	Baseline
Behavioral difficulties	The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief behavioural screening questionnaire for children aged 2 to 17 years old, encompassing emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior. Total difficulties score: Sum of all subscales except Prosocial → Range: 0 to 40. Prosocial score is reported separately → Range: 0 to 10. Higher scores on total difficulties and the four problem subscales are equivalent to worse outcomes. Higher scores on the prosocial subscale are equivalent to better outcomes.	Baseline
Stress	The Adolescent Stress Scale (ADOSS) will be used to capture students' level of stress in the following domains: personal, academic, family, and social. Total score ranges from 20 to 100, with higher scores indicating higher levels of stress.	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Babes-Bolyai University
• Collaborators: The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Oana A. David, Ph.D, Babes-Bolyai University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 15, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): June 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 24, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 24, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): May 1, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): August 28, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 27, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Social Behavior; Self-Control; Emotional Regulation
• Other Study ID Numbers: REThinkRESILIENT

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