Resilience interventions using interactive technology: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

This scoping review summarises the literature on resilience interventions that use interactive technology. Resilience refers to a person’s mental ability to adaptively deal with challenging situations and is a key skill for dealing with challenges in life. Types of interactive technology used in resilience interventions included serious video games, virtual reality simulations, social robots and commercial off-the-shelf video games. Searching a range of multidisciplinary databases, this review identified 27 publications that evaluated 17 unique interventions. Peer-reviewed papers and conference proceedings published in English and released after 2000 were included in the review. This scoping review finds that interactive technology can be used as an effective intervention to increase resilience. The review identified two types of resilience intervention: stress inoculation and therapeutic treatment. The interventions were analysed using the eight dimensions identified in the gameful experience questionnaire. Providing players with challenging experiences and guiding behaviour while providing feedback were the two most used dimensions. Social experience was underutilised and competition was not used, except in commercial off-the-shelf video games. This review has shown that interactive technologies can deliver effective resilience interventions in an accessible, cost-effective and flexible manner.

KEYWORDS:

• Scoping review
• interactive technology
• resilience
• intervention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Megan Pusey

Megan Pusey is a PhD candidate in the discipline of Information Technology, Mathematics and Statistics at Murdoch University. Her research interests include game-based learning, productive failure and resilience.

Kok Wai Wong

Kok Wai Wong is an Associate Professor in the discipline of Information Technology, Mathematics and Statistics at the College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education at Murdoch University. He is the current Vice President (Membership) for The Asia Pacific Neural Network Society (APNNS). He is a Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Senior member of Australia Computer Society (ACS), and Certified Professional of ACS. He has published in the areas of Educational Technologies especially in the areas of virtual reality and gesture-based learning systems. He has also published in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and game technologies.

Natasha Anne Rappa

Natasha Anne Rappa is a Lecturer with a specialisation in Technology in Education at Murdoch University. She holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield and a MA from the University of Michigan. She has published articles in Linguistics and Education, Research in Science Education, Computer Assisted Language Learning and the British Journal of Educational Technology. She has written chapters in edited books published by TESOL International and Springer. Her research interests include the use of learning technologies in academic subjects, literacy in academic subjects, academic identity and agency.