Magis – A magical adventure: Using a mobile game to deliver an ACT intervention for elementary schoolchildren in classroom settings

• Published in: Journal of contextual behavioral science 2023-01, Vol.27, p.26-33
• Main Authors: Keinonen, K., Lappalainen, P., Kotamäki-Viinikka, S., Lappalainen, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceptance and commitment therapy; Brief intervention; Children; School-based intervention; Therapeutic games
• ISSN: 2212-1447; 2212-1455
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2022.11.010

Studies of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that this health emergency has affected especially young people. Supporting the well-being of children is thus particularly urgent. However, the high prevalence of ill-being among children requires novel approaches to providing help. Health care resources are limited, and many children did not receive support even before the pandemic. The current study presents a novel approach to delivering brief interventions for school-aged children. A mobile game based on acceptance and commitment therapy was used to increase psychological flexibility and well-being among 10 to 12-year-old schoolchildren. A sample of 106 students played the game in four weekly sessions as part of normal teaching practice in school. The effectiveness of the brief game intervention was examined as a universal intervention among the whole sample and among subgroups created on the basis of baseline psychological flexibility (i.e., based on the need for an intervention). The results show that higher psychological flexibility was associated with less emotional and behavioral problems, higher health-related quality of life, mood, and school satisfaction, and less loneliness (r = 0.46–0.63). While a significant effect was not detected in the whole sample, the subsample of children with initially high psychological inflexibility benefitted from participating in the intervention (Cohen's d = 0.35). These preliminary findings suggest that the brief game-based intervention can increase psychological flexibility among children when the need for an intervention is considered. Further research is necessary to examine the stability of improvements in psychological flexibility. •Many children with psychological symptoms do not receive treatment.•A mobile game was used to deliver an ACT intervention in school settings.•Psychological flexibility was associated with wellbeing among 10- to 12-year-old children.•The intervention improved psychological flexibility among inflexible children.