Lepe-Salazar Francisco, Mejía-Romero Fernando, Benicio-Rodríguez Dámaso, Hernández-Reyes Aylin, Nakajima Tatsuo, Salgado-Torres Sarita
Ludolab, Colima, Mexico.
Universidad de Colima, Colima, Mexico.
JMIR Serious Games. 2024 Dec 24;12:e58452. doi: 10.2196/58452.
For years, Mexico has reported the highest global incidence of school bullying, with approximately 19% of students going through some form of hostile peer interactions. Despite numerous interventions, these harmful conducts remain deeply entrenched in educational environments.
To address this issue, we developed Bernstein, a serious game that promotes assertiveness-an essential protective factor that reduces the negative effects of bullying.
Bernstein was designed using multiple composite scenarios, a methodology grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy. To evaluate the game's effectiveness, we conducted an exploratory trial using the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule to assess assertiveness levels before and after the intervention. Participants were high school students who met the inclusion criteria of being open to playing a serious game (with no prior gaming experience required) and having access to a computer with internet connectivity for remote participation. A total of 100 students (65 boys and 35 girls) enrolled in the intervention; however, only 46 participants in the treatment group and 46 in the control group completed the study, resulting in a dropout rate of 8% (8/100). A paired 1-tailed t test was used to compare pre- and postintervention scores within each group, and a one-way ANOVA was conducted to compare the average score improvements between the 2 groups.
The treatment group showed a pretest mean Rathus Assertiveness Schedule score of -2.78 (SD 25.93) and a posttest mean of 1.69 (SD 29.48), with a paired 1-tailed t test yielding a P value of .01. The control group had a pretest mean of 2.07 (SD 25.69) and a posttest mean of -2.39 (SD 32.98), with a paired 1-tailed t test yielding a P value of .04. The one-way ANOVA (between groups) yielded a P value of .006, indicating a statistically significant difference, favoring Bernstein over the alternative protocol. Participant feedback highlighted the game's engaging narrative and character design, although usability issues, such as navigation challenges, were noted as areas for improvement.
The results suggest that Bernstein is a promising tool for promoting assertiveness in high school students, providing a potential strategy for addressing bullying-related issues. The study underscores the value of integrating Bernstein into educational programs, offering students a safe and interactive environment to develop resilience. As an exploratory trial, this study faced limitations affecting the generalizability of findings, including the remote format's impact on facilitator guidance and a relatively small sample size. Further trials with larger, more diverse groups are recommended to validate these early results and enhance Bernstein's scalability as part of a comprehensive antibullying strategy.
多年来，墨西哥报告的校园霸凌全球发生率最高，约19%的学生经历过某种形式的敌对同伴互动。尽管进行了大量干预，但这些有害行为在教育环境中依然根深蒂固。
为解决这一问题，我们开发了一款严肃游戏“伯恩斯坦”，它能促进自信——这是一个重要的保护因素，可减少霸凌的负面影响。
“伯恩斯坦”采用多种复合场景进行设计，这是一种基于认知行为疗法的方法。为评估该游戏的效果，我们进行了一项探索性试验，使用拉瑟斯自信量表在干预前后评估自信水平。参与者为高中生，他们符合纳入标准，即愿意玩严肃游戏（无需先前的游戏经验）且能使用联网电脑进行远程参与。共有100名学生（65名男生和35名女生）参与了干预；然而，治疗组和对照组分别只有46名参与者完成了研究，辍学率为8%（8/100）。使用配对单尾t检验比较每组干预前后的得分，并进行单因素方差分析以比较两组平均得分的提高情况。
治疗组在拉瑟斯自信量表上的预测试平均得分为-2.78（标准差25.93），后测试平均得分为1.69（标准差29.48），配对单尾t检验得出P值为0.01。对照组的预测试平均得分为2.07（标准差25.69），后测试平均得分为-2.39（标准差32.98），配对单尾t检验得出P值为0.04。单因素方差分析（组间）得出P值为0.006，表明存在统计学上的显著差异，显示“伯恩斯坦”比替代方案更具优势。参与者反馈强调了游戏引人入胜的情节和角色设计，不过也指出了一些可用性问题，如导航挑战等，有待改进。
结果表明，“伯恩斯坦”是促进高中生自信的一个有前景的工具，为解决与霸凌相关的问题提供了一种潜在策略。该研究强调了将“伯恩斯坦”纳入教育项目的价值，为学生提供了一个安全且互动的环境来培养适应能力。作为一项探索性试验，本研究存在影响结果普遍性的局限性，包括远程形式对指导教师指导的影响以及样本量相对较小。建议进行更大规模、更多样化群体的进一步试验，以验证这些早期结果，并提高“伯恩斯坦”作为综合反霸凌策略一部分的可扩展性。
