Healthy Close Relationships (HCR) - Mobile

ABSTRACT HEALTHY CLOSE RELATIONSHIPSHCRMOBILEGrowing up in under resourced environmentse gpovertylow incomegeographical isolationfragile family structurescan seriously threaten an adolescent s successful passage to adulthoodResearchers have uncovered very separate and unequal pathways to adulthood for adolescents one for thehavesone for thehave notsand a path for those who are in betweenThe networks of close relationships ofhave notsare particularly important because of the extra challenges of growing up in under resourced environmentsThe changing nature of these relationships may make it particularly challenging for many adolescents to establish and maintain healthy relationshipssome adolescents may not feel very self efficacious regarding their close relationshipsDespite the importance of adolescentsnetwork of relationshipsour extensive search of healthy relationship programs and interventions revealed that no programs have simultaneously targeted relationships with parentspeersand romantic partnersMoreoverthe content of the existing programs focusing on one kind of relationship were rarely based on developmental theory and outcome measures were not closely linked to the program s contentThe goal of this Phase I project Healthy Close RelationshipsHCRMobile is to determine the feasibility and merit of mobile game app that provides adolescentsageswith the knowledgeskills and self efficacy to engage in and manage healthy relationships with parentspeersand romantic partnersWe build upon on our two decades of work developing risk reduction interventions for adolescents and successfully developing a set of Edugames that focus on positive possible identitiesTo guide the content development and gaming processthe REESSI team will use Bandura s Social Cognitive Theory for Health Promotionto select our change mechanism of promoting selfefficacy in relationshipsThe use of serious learning games to promote healthy relationships is a particularly promising stepSpecificallythe Edugames provide a means of simulating interactions with someone without requiring that the other person actually be presentmaking this approach more feasible than other intervention approachesOur overarching questions focus onathe end userschildren agedin out of school time settings and the staff who run these programs andbthe theorized processRegarding the endusersto what extent do they find the four prototype Edugames games to be usable and appealingRegarding the theorized processto what extent do children differ in their perceived capacity to maintain open communication with parents from pre survey to post surveyThis Phase I application is guided by four specific aimsThe Phase I aims over an eight month period areWith input from an established group of youth advisorsdevelop the curriculaplot arcs and game design documentGDDfor the prototypes of four EdugamesDevelop the web interface for the mobile game appBuild theminute prototypes for the four EdugamesConduct feasibility testing of the four prototype Edugames and associated off line activities at four out of school time program sitesThis project involves a trans disciplinary collaboration between REESSIone of the top adolescent development experts in the fieldDrWyndol FurmanUniversity of Denverfour youthserving organizations and a premier globally recognized gaming companyzGamesNARRATIVE HEALTHY CLOSE RELATIONSHIPSHCRMOBILE Given the early onset of most hurtful and risky behaviorsrisk reduction education and activities must take place before these behaviors are initiatedAdditionallytheInstitute of Medicine study on the promotion of youth development encourages federal agencies to expand their funding to research on personal and social assets needed to promote the successful transition to adulthoodThis project responds to two Healthy PeopleobjectivesAH HPIncrease the percentage of adolescents who participate in extracurricular and out of school activities and AH HPIncrease the percentage of vulnerable adolescents who are equipped with the services and skills necessary to transition into an independent and self sufficient adulthood