Emotion regulation intervention to promote well-being through a serious game (emoWELL): a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial in Spanish emerging adults.

Abstract

Emerging adulthood is a new life stage characterised by identity exploration, instability, self-focus, a feeling of 'being in-between' and the perception of a range of possibilities. Emerging adults may experience difficulties in their well-being during this complex stage. Adaptive emotion regulation can improve levels of well-being. Previous studies have shown that new technologies can enhance social-emotional competencies in this population. The purpose of the study is to design and implement a serious game, <i>emoWELL</i>, which improves knowledge and the use of adaptive skills of emotion regulation to improve well-being during emerging adulthood. The participants will be 385 emerging adults aged 18-29 years. They will be randomly assigned to either the control or experimental group. The experimental group will complete the emoWELL serious game. The game takes place on a train ride with several stops where the player will learn about emotion regulation. To assess the effectiveness of emoWELL, psychological assessment instruments validated in the Spanish population will be used. The primary expected outcomes include characteristics of emerging adulthood, emotion regulation (emotion dysregulation, emotion regulation strategies and cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and psychological well-being. The secondary expected outcomes are self-esteem, psychological distress, loneliness and optimism. The assessment will occur at two different time points: pretest (T1) and post-test (T2) to observe improvements in the variables of interest. The study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the Universitat de València (2013883) and will follow the standards of the Declaration of Helsinki for data collection. The findings will be shared with the scientific community. The intellectual property registration number is as follows: UV-SW-202460R. NCT06049407.