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Introducing the Fling – An Innovative Serious Game to Train Behavioral Control in Adolescents: Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial

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Games and Learning Alliance (GALA 2016)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10056))

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Abstract

Behavioral control weaknesses are a strong predictor of problematic behaviors in adolescents, such as heavy alcohol use. Heavy alcohol use at this young age can lead to health and school-related problems and is a severe societal problem. Strengthening of cognitive control mechanisms through computerized training has been shown to have positive effects on behavior, but is often perceived as a tedious exercise. Applying novel serious gaming techniques to evidence-based training paradigms may offer a solution to this motivational problem. This paper describes the design and analysis plan that will be used to evaluate an innovative Serious Game called The Fling, aimed specifically at increasing cognitive control over impulses in adolescents. The game will be evaluated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) among adolescents between 15–18 years in mainstream and special education.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank our collaborators at Shosho Amsterdam, Harold de Groot and Frank van Vugt in particular, for their invaluable contributions to the game’s design and development. This research was supported by the Utrecht University Strategic Theme Dynamics of Youth grant #SM.DoY.2015.6.T, awarded to Margot Peeters.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Wouter J. Boendermaker & Margot Peeters

  2. Department of Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Remco Veltkamp & Robbert Jan Beun

  3. Department of Social Sciences: Methodology and Statistics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Rens van de Schoot

Authors
  1. Wouter J. Boendermaker
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  2. Remco Veltkamp
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  3. Robbert Jan Beun
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  4. Rens van de Schoot
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  5. Margot Peeters
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wouter J. Boendermaker .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Educational Technology, Genova, Italy

    Rosa Bottino

  2. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Johan Jeuring

  3. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Remco C. Veltkamp

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Boendermaker, W.J., Veltkamp, R., Beun, R.J., van de Schoot, R., Peeters, M. (2016). Introducing the Fling – An Innovative Serious Game to Train Behavioral Control in Adolescents: Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial. In: Bottino, R., Jeuring, J., Veltkamp, R. (eds) Games and Learning Alliance. GALA 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10056. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50182-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50182-6_11

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50182-6

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