Health game interventions to enhance physical activity self‐efficacy of children: a quantitative systematic review

• Published in: Journal of advanced nursing 2017-04, Vol.73 (4), p.794-811
• Main Authors: Pakarinen, Anni, Parisod, Heidi, Smed, Jouni, Salanterä, Sanna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Child; children; Children & youth; Exercise; Exercise - psychology; Female; Games; Games, Recreational - psychology; health game; health promotion; Health Promotion - methods; Humans; Male; Nursing; physical activity; Self Efficacy; Systematic review; Video Games - psychology
• ISSN: 0309-2402; 1365-2648
• DOI: 10.1111/jan.13160

Aim To describe and explore health game interventions that enhance the physical activity self‐efficacy of children and to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. Background Physical inactivity among children has increased globally. Self‐efficacy is one of the key determinants of physical activity engagement in children. There is a need to explore new and innovative interventions to enhance physical activity self‐efficacy that are also acceptable for today's children. Design Quantitative systematic review. Data sources MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL, PsychInfo, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library between 1996–2016. Review methods A review was conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. A systematic search was done in June 2016 by two independent reviewers according to the eligibility criteria as follows: controlled trial, comparison of digital game intervention with no game intervention control condition, participants younger than 18 years of age and reported statistical analyses of a physical activity self‐efficacy outcome measure. Results Altogether, five studies met the eligibility criteria. Four game interventions, employing three active games and one educational game, had positive effects on children's physical activity self‐efficacy. An intervention, employing a game‐themed mobile application, showed no intervention effects. The variation between intervention characteristics was significant and the quality of the studies was found to be at a medium level. Conclusion Although health game interventions seemingly enhance the physical activity self‐efficacy of children and have potential as a means of increasing physical activity, more rigorous research is needed to clarify how effective such interventions are in the longer run to contribute to the development of game‐based interventions.