PR: EPARe: A Game-Based Approach to Relationship Guidance for Adolescents

Ensuring adolescents are equipped with the necessary skills to handle coercion and pressure from peers is a central component of effective relationship education. However, for teachers attempting to convey these principles, didactic methods have been shown to meet with limited success, as the highest-risk students may fail to engage with the subject matter in a meaningful fashion. In this paper, the potential a digital game may hold as a component of a blended learning solution to this problem is explored though the development of PR:EPARe (Positive Relationships: Eliminating Coercion and Pressure in Adolescent Relationships). An examination of the first section of the PR:EPARe game is undertaken through a cluster randomized control trial of 507 students across three UK schools, with ANOVA demonstrating significant differences between control and game groups (p<0.05) for responses to a range of questions on preparedness and self-efficacy. An overall significant positive effect of the game over time when compared to the control (p<0.001) is observed. Based on these preliminary findings, the participatory approach to development is shown to lead to a developed game which is well-received by students, offering the potential to provide a valuable resource for teachers attempting to address this difficult subject within a classroom-based context. Keywords-relationship education; participatory design; serious games; blended learning; game-based intervention