Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Jul 31, 2020
Date Accepted: Nov 26, 2020
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The Secret of Seven Stones: Development of an intergenerational, online game for middle-school youth to prevent HIV/STI and pregnancy using an Intervention Mapping approach.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Early adolescent sexual behavior is a significant public health problem in the United States. Parental influence can help to delay sexual debut; yet parents often feel ill equipped to communicate about sex-related topics. Intergenerational games offer a potential strategy to provide life skills training to youth while engaging parents and youth (11-14 years) in communication about sexual health.
Objective:
This study aims to describe the development of an online sexual health intergenerational adventure game, the Secret of Seven Stones (SSS) using an Intervention Mapping (IM) approach for developing theory- and evidence-based interventions.
Methods:
We followed the IM development steps to (1) describe a theoretical and empirical model for youth sexual health behavior, (2) define target behaviors and change objectives; (3) identify theory-based methods and practical applications to inform design and function; (4) develop and test a prototype of two game levels to assess feasibility prior to developing the complete 18-level game; (5) draft an implementation plan including a commercial dissemination strategy; and 6) draft an evaluation plan including a study design for an RCT efficacy trial of SSS.
Results:
SSS comprised: 1) an adventure game for youth skills training delivered via desk top computer; 2) a text-based notification system to provide progress updates for parents and cues to initiate dialogue with their youth; 3) and a website for parent skills-training and progress monitoring. Formative prototype testing demonstrated feasibility for in-home use and positive usability ratings.
Conclusions:
The Secret of Seven Stones (SSS) intergenerational game provides a unique addition to the limited cadre of home-based programs that facilitate parent involvement in influencing youth behaviors and reducing adolescent sexual risk taking. The IM framework provided a logical and thorough approach to development and testing, attentive to the need for theoretical and empirical foundation in serious games for health.
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