Research on Alleviating Children’s Nighttime Fear Using a Digital Game
Nighttime fear is common among children and may negatively affect their growth. Given the positive role of digital games in regulating children’s emotions, in this study, we proposed principles for the design of a digital game to alleviate children’s nighttime fears and developed a game prototype ba...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-03-01
|
Series: | Children |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/9/3/405 |
_version_ | 1827649560142413824 |
---|---|
author | Wen Huei Chou Han-Xing Chen Ching-Chih Hsu |
author_facet | Wen Huei Chou Han-Xing Chen Ching-Chih Hsu |
author_sort | Wen Huei Chou |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Nighttime fear is common among children and may negatively affect their growth. Given the positive role of digital games in regulating children’s emotions, in this study, we proposed principles for the design of a digital game to alleviate children’s nighttime fears and developed a game prototype based on a survey of children and their parents. In order to verify whether digital games can reduce children’s fears, the Koala Fear Questionnaire (KFQ) was used to assess the effectiveness of the game prototype in an experiment. We adopted a quasi-experimental design with non-randomized samples, including 47 subjects in the experimental group (EG) and 49 subjects in the control group (CG). The results of the analysis show that the children in the EG displayed an obvious decrease in their fear of the objects that appeared in the game. Moreover, for some children with a moderate level of fear, playing digital games could significantly reduce their fear. Therefore, this preliminary study suggests that digital games have a positive effect on alleviating children’s nighttime fears. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:00:24Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-db40698a9b144848828d150b590d2c01 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2227-9067 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:00:24Z |
publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Children |
spelling | doaj.art-db40698a9b144848828d150b590d2c012023-11-24T00:47:38ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672022-03-019340510.3390/children9030405Research on Alleviating Children’s Nighttime Fear Using a Digital GameWen Huei Chou0Han-Xing Chen1Ching-Chih Hsu2Graduate School of Design, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin 64002, TaiwanGraduate School of Design, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin 64002, TaiwanGraduate School of Design, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin 64002, TaiwanNighttime fear is common among children and may negatively affect their growth. Given the positive role of digital games in regulating children’s emotions, in this study, we proposed principles for the design of a digital game to alleviate children’s nighttime fears and developed a game prototype based on a survey of children and their parents. In order to verify whether digital games can reduce children’s fears, the Koala Fear Questionnaire (KFQ) was used to assess the effectiveness of the game prototype in an experiment. We adopted a quasi-experimental design with non-randomized samples, including 47 subjects in the experimental group (EG) and 49 subjects in the control group (CG). The results of the analysis show that the children in the EG displayed an obvious decrease in their fear of the objects that appeared in the game. Moreover, for some children with a moderate level of fear, playing digital games could significantly reduce their fear. Therefore, this preliminary study suggests that digital games have a positive effect on alleviating children’s nighttime fears.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/9/3/405nighttime fearchild’s feardigital game designadventure game |
spellingShingle | Wen Huei Chou Han-Xing Chen Ching-Chih Hsu Research on Alleviating Children’s Nighttime Fear Using a Digital Game Children nighttime fear child’s fear digital game design adventure game |
title | Research on Alleviating Children’s Nighttime Fear Using a Digital Game |
title_full | Research on Alleviating Children’s Nighttime Fear Using a Digital Game |
title_fullStr | Research on Alleviating Children’s Nighttime Fear Using a Digital Game |
title_full_unstemmed | Research on Alleviating Children’s Nighttime Fear Using a Digital Game |
title_short | Research on Alleviating Children’s Nighttime Fear Using a Digital Game |
title_sort | research on alleviating children s nighttime fear using a digital game |
topic | nighttime fear child’s fear digital game design adventure game |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/9/3/405 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT wenhueichou researchonalleviatingchildrensnighttimefearusingadigitalgame AT hanxingchen researchonalleviatingchildrensnighttimefearusingadigitalgame AT chingchihhsu researchonalleviatingchildrensnighttimefearusingadigitalgame |