The impact of serious educational gameplay on adolescent binge drinking intentions: a theoretically grounded empirical examination

Abstract

Introduction: Game On: Know Alcohol, a school-based alcohol education program, aimed to educate adolescents on the harmful effects of (excessive) alcohol consumption. The program included two user-centered serious educational games, Perfect Pour and Dumb Driver. Purpose: To evaluate the objective effect of playing Perfect Pour and Dumb Driver on the key psychosocial determinants of adolescent binge drinking intentions in the context of the theory of reasoned action (TRA). Methods: Data were drawn from four Game On: Know Alcohol program schools (N = 303 adolescents aged 14-16 years), and two TRA models incorporating four game metrics were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results: The theoretically guided TRA models linked to gameplay data explained 66% of variance in adolescents’ binge drinking intentions. Average game duration and average score of Perfect Pour were significantly associated with adolescents’ attitudes toward binge drinking, whereas no objective effect on the key psychosocial determinants was observed for Dumb Driver. Conclusions: Inconclusive findings suggest that further research is needed to fully understand how serious educational games may be designed to effectively influence adolescents’ binge drinking intentions. Opportunities to extend theory application beyond evaluation are noted in addition to other opportunities for future research.