Abstract
BACKGROUND: Mentalising and stress regulation pose challenges for adults with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities (MBID), emphasising the importance of an intervention program. The study examined the effectiveness and social validity of the serious game 'You & I' in enhancing mentalising and stress regulation among adults with MBID.
METHOD: A randomised controlled superiority trial with experimental and waitlist-control groups was conducted with 159 adults with MBID (M age = 36) at baseline, post-test, and follow-up. Analyses investigated the effects on aspects of mentalising, stress regulation, and social validity.
RESULTS: The experimental group showed decreased stress from negative interpersonal relations, while the control group experienced increased stress (d = 0.26). There were no significant effects on mentalising, but positive user expectations and experiences were reported.
CONCLUSIONS: This initial study on 'You & I' provides limited evidence of its effectiveness for people with MBID, warranting further examination of the potential of serious games.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e13170 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-14 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 2 Nov 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2024 |
Bibliographical note
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Funding
This work was supported by The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development ZonMw, Postbus 93 245, 2509 AE Den Haag The Netherlands. Project number 845004004. We thank all participants in our study. We thank Suze van Wijngaarden for initiating the study of the effectiveness of the serious game ‘You & I’ and her contribution to the development of the game. Also our research assistant, student assistants, and students for their commitment during the data collection. We are grateful for the help within the care organisations in encouraging and recruiting participants for our study. Special thanks to our contact persons at ASVZ, Bartiméus, Cordaan, and Ons Tweede Thuis. Last but not least, we thank the co-researchers for their active participation in the study, especially during the development of the game and the recruitment of participants.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Ons Tweede Thuis | |
| ZONMW | 845004004 |
Keywords
- co-researchers
- computer game
- intellectual disabilities
- mentalising
- randomised controlled trial
- stress regulation