Can Videogames Be Used to Promote Emotional Intelligence in Teenagers? Results from EmotivaMente, a School Program

Objective: To carry out and investigate the effectiveness of an emotional intelligence (EI) training based on the EI ability model, using videogames as experience-based learning tools to increase EI abilities in adolescents. Materials and Methods: A pre-/post-test/follow-up quasi-experimental design was used with an experimental and a control group (121 adolescents, 15.7% boys, mean age of 14.1 years). The training called "EmotivaMente" consisted of eight sessions lasting 1.5 hours each, conducted with six first-year classes of two Italian senior high schools. Data on emotional competences were collected at baseline, at the end of the training and 3 months later. Data were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: Students who participated in the EI training reported an improvement in the evaluation and expression of emotions in relation to the self (own emotions) compared with the control group, immediately after the training, but this difference did not persist at the follow-up (3 months later). Furthermore, EmotivaMente found an increase in the use of cognitive revaluation as a strategy of emotion regulation in the experimental group over time. Conclusions: EmotivaMente helped adolescents to improve emotional skills. Results confirmed that videogames can be useful to promote EI in adolescents at school, if integrated with a guided and assisted framework. Implication of the findings and recommendations for future research are made.