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Article: A Digital Game and School-Based Intervention for Students in Hong Kong: Quasi-Experimental Design

TitleA Digital Game and School-Based Intervention for Students in Hong Kong: Quasi-Experimental Design
Authors
Keywordsdigital game-based learning
school-based learning
mental health
schools
students
Issue Date2019
PublisherJournal of Medical Internet Research. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.jmir.org/
Citation
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2019, v. 21 n. 4, p. article no. e12003 How to Cite?
AbstractBackground: In Hong Kong, with an increasing number of children experiencing mental health issues, there is a need to not only develop innovative interventions but also develop comprehensive prevention interventions so as to reduce their anxiety symptoms and enhance their emotional management and interpersonal relationships. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of The Adventures of DoReMiFa, an integration model of the cognitive-behavioral approach and positive psychology by using digital game–based and school-based mental health enhancement intervention to magnify the social and emotional health and well-being of the school children in Hong Kong aged 9 to 11 years. Methods: A quasi-experimental design method was used to evaluate this digital game and school-based intervention. The Adventures of DoReMiFa was piloted in 4 primary schools where students were allocated to either an intervention or a control group. The participants were assessed at pre- and postintervention with a 6-month follow-up measuring their mental health knowledge, levels of anxiety symptoms, positive and negative thinking, perspective-taking, and self-esteem. Results: A total of 459 primary school students from 4 primary schools participated in the study. The response rate on the questionnaires answered on the Web was up to 85.1% (391/459). Compared with the control group, the intervention group was found to have significant association with improved mental health knowledge at the time immediately after the intervention (beta=.46; P=.01) and in the 6-month postintervention period (beta=.66; P<.001); for perspective-taking, the intervention group had exhibited a significant improvement 6 months after the completion of the universal program (beta=1.50; P=.03). The intervention, however, was found not to be effective in reducing the rates of anxiety symptoms and negative thinking among the participating students. Conclusions: The Adventures of DoReMiFa, an integration of a digital game–based and school-based mental health enhancement intervention, was shown to be effective in elevating the knowledge of mental health and promoting perspective-taking in the primary school students of Hong Kong. Although there was insufficient evidence to support a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and negative automatic thoughts, the overall results were still encouraging in that a preventive effect was found, indicating that the program has the potential to enhance the mental well-being of schoolchildren. It also suggests that knowledge enhancement may not necessarily lead to behavior change, and more focused effort may be needed to achieve the translation. The implications and limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were also discussed.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/272338
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 5.8
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 2.020
PubMed Central ID
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorShum, AKY-
dc.contributor.authorLai, ESY-
dc.contributor.authorLeung, WG-
dc.contributor.authorCheng, MNS-
dc.contributor.authorWong, HK-
dc.contributor.authorSo, WK-
dc.contributor.authorLaw, YW-
dc.contributor.authorYip, PSF-
dc.date.accessioned2019-07-20T10:40:23Z-
dc.date.available2019-07-20T10:40:23Z-
dc.date.issued2019-
dc.identifier.citationJournal of Medical Internet Research, 2019, v. 21 n. 4, p. article no. e12003-
dc.identifier.issn1438-8871-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/272338-
dc.description.abstractBackground: In Hong Kong, with an increasing number of children experiencing mental health issues, there is a need to not only develop innovative interventions but also develop comprehensive prevention interventions so as to reduce their anxiety symptoms and enhance their emotional management and interpersonal relationships. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of The Adventures of DoReMiFa, an integration model of the cognitive-behavioral approach and positive psychology by using digital game–based and school-based mental health enhancement intervention to magnify the social and emotional health and well-being of the school children in Hong Kong aged 9 to 11 years. Methods: A quasi-experimental design method was used to evaluate this digital game and school-based intervention. The Adventures of DoReMiFa was piloted in 4 primary schools where students were allocated to either an intervention or a control group. The participants were assessed at pre- and postintervention with a 6-month follow-up measuring their mental health knowledge, levels of anxiety symptoms, positive and negative thinking, perspective-taking, and self-esteem. Results: A total of 459 primary school students from 4 primary schools participated in the study. The response rate on the questionnaires answered on the Web was up to 85.1% (391/459). Compared with the control group, the intervention group was found to have significant association with improved mental health knowledge at the time immediately after the intervention (beta=.46; P=.01) and in the 6-month postintervention period (beta=.66; P<.001); for perspective-taking, the intervention group had exhibited a significant improvement 6 months after the completion of the universal program (beta=1.50; P=.03). The intervention, however, was found not to be effective in reducing the rates of anxiety symptoms and negative thinking among the participating students. Conclusions: The Adventures of DoReMiFa, an integration of a digital game–based and school-based mental health enhancement intervention, was shown to be effective in elevating the knowledge of mental health and promoting perspective-taking in the primary school students of Hong Kong. Although there was insufficient evidence to support a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and negative automatic thoughts, the overall results were still encouraging in that a preventive effect was found, indicating that the program has the potential to enhance the mental well-being of schoolchildren. It also suggests that knowledge enhancement may not necessarily lead to behavior change, and more focused effort may be needed to achieve the translation. The implications and limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were also discussed.-
dc.languageeng-
dc.publisherJournal of Medical Internet Research. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.jmir.org/-
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Medical Internet Research-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.subjectdigital game-based learning-
dc.subjectschool-based learning-
dc.subjectmental health-
dc.subjectschools-
dc.subjectstudents-
dc.titleA Digital Game and School-Based Intervention for Students in Hong Kong: Quasi-Experimental Design-
dc.typeArticle-
dc.identifier.emailShum, AKY: angies@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailLeung, WG: leungwg@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailCheng, MNS: chengs@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailWong, HK: hjkwong@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailSo, WK: wksosam@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailLaw, YW: flawhk@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailYip, PSF: sfpyip@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.authorityLaw, YW=rp00561-
dc.identifier.authorityYip, PSF=rp00596-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.2196/12003-
dc.identifier.pmid30950795-
dc.identifier.pmcidPMC6473212-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-85064320013-
dc.identifier.hkuros299356-
dc.identifier.volume21-
dc.identifier.issue4-
dc.identifier.spagearticle no. e12003-
dc.identifier.epagearticle no. e12003-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000463706700001-
dc.publisher.placeCanada-
dc.identifier.issnl1438-8871-

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