Digital Gaming for HIV Prevention With Young Adolescents

Abstract

The search for intervention strategies appropriate for young adolescents has recently led to the use of digital games. Digital gaming interventions are promising because they may be developmentally appropriate for adolescent populations. The gaming approach also capitalizes on an inherent interest to adolescents and circumvents traditional barriers to access to prevention interventions faced in some geographical areas. Notwithstanding, research on gaming in HIV prevention is quite limited. In this review article, we examine the need for contextually relevant HIV prevention interventions among young adolescents. From this, we provide a theoretical framework for exploring contextually relevant HIV risk factors and a foundation for gathering and using input from the target population to adapt an existing game or to create a developmentally appropriate and contextually relevant HIV prevention game.

Validation of educational game for adolescents about the sexuality topic / Validação de jogo educativo sobre sexualidade para adolescentes

“…6 The use of educational games for adolescents has shown that playful and participatory work fosters arguments, reflections and collective construction of knowledge among them. [7][8] Therefore, it becomes relevant to unleash efforts for the production and validation of educational technologies directed to this public.…”

Qualitative Evaluation of the Relevance and Acceptability of a Web-Based HIV Prevention Game for Rural Adolescents

“…As indicated by participants, the informational needs of a young adolescent 12 year old sexually inexperienced boy would be different for the needs of a middle adolescent 16 year old sexually active girl. Including different levels in an HIV prevention game that are accessed based on characteristics (i.e., sex, age, level of sexual experience) identified in the game and build on feedback from the individual player would enhance relevance (Enah et al, 2013). In more general terms, gaming intervention developers need to carefully consider the balance between potential user’s needs for information, desire for entertainment and the goal of the game to enhance health.…”

“…With the increasingly earlier onset of puberty documented in recent decades, young adolescents face the potential of spending many years with a sexually mature body and ‘sexually activated brain circuits with relatively immature neurobehavioral systems’ necessary for anticipating the potential long-term consequences of early sex (Enah, Moneyham, Vance, & Childs, 2013; Rew & Bowman, 2008; Steinberg, 2007). Young adolescents, therefore, need venues to observe and reflect on the long-term consequences of current sexual risk behaviors.…”

“…The game was previewed and determined adequate for use with the target population by a team of three local adolescent HIV prevention education specialists. Although HIV prevention games are available internationally (Enah et al, 2013), these games have not been formally evaluated with African American rural adolescents in the United States. In the UNESCO game, simulated car races take place in highways in different continents around the world.…”

“Testing is Healthy” TimePlay campaign: Evaluation of sexual health promotion gamification intervention targeting young adults

“…The low cost of such media (especially compared to in-person sexual health education by teachers and health care providers) makes it a costeffective platform for delivering sexual health interventions. 5 In particular, gamification (i.e., the use of gaming components such as rewards, competition and interactivity) has been shown to: increase sexual health knowledge, 6 reduce sexual stigma and sexual risk behaviours, [7][8][9] and have a wide reach. 10 Based on a randomized control trial, the virtual reality game PlayForward: Elm City Stories had a positive association between greater progress through the game and the sexual health knowledge score among 11-14 year olds.…”