S.S. GRIN

Description:

The S.S. GRIN, which stands for the Social Skills Group Intervention, is a single-player point-and-click adventure game that teaches children social skills by solving in-game social challenges. The content for the game is based on an in-person intervention that has been used by thousands of students for over 20 years, which results in significant improvements in social–emotional skills and mental health. By conducting a series of in-game interactions, children are taught a series of social–emotional skills in the game. These skills include respect, consequences, responsibility, impulse control, communication, perspective taking, friendship skills, social initiation, cooperation, compromise, and emotion regulation. In the game, children are asked to create customised avatars to represent themselves. The player is a new recruit on the sailing ship called S.S. GRIN.  Each of the crew specialises in a specific social skill (e.g., impulse control). The narrative purpose of the crew members is to be the child’s companions, and the game also employs them as pedagogical agents to provide feedback and assistance as needed. The game lasts for approximately 3.75 hours in total, with nine episode of around 25 minutes each. 

Service URL:

http://legacy.3cisd.com/marketplace/catalog/ssgrin//featured/9/0

Agency Responsible:

3C Institute.

Details

Format:

Game.

Intervention Type:

Educational (primarily educational material or psychoeducation).

Course Length:

Long (more than 5 modules). 9 episodes

Support Option:

No support.

Target Audience

Primary Category:

Relationship issues.

Target Audience:

Child. Aged 7 to 11

Language:

English.

Access

Fee:

Fee-based. $120 to $575

Access:

Closed: Fee required.

Contact Details:

 marketplace@3cisd.com

Research evidence

Research Trials:

2

Research RCTs:

2

Outcome Summary:

In a pilot test of a beta version of the S.S. GRIN game, which included the evaluation of the first four episodes among 36 children of grades three to five, a higher percentage of the children in the intervention group had improved psychosocial distress (measured by the Youth Outcomes Questionnaire, Y-OQ 2.01) and behavioural and emotional strength (measured by the Behavioural and Emotional Rating Scale, BERS-2) than those in the wait-list control group.

In a randomised controlled trial of 69 children, the S.S. GRIN game significantly increased social-emotional skill knowledge and understanding indicated by greater improvements from pretest to protest of the children in the intervention group in the levels of social literacy (measured by the Achieved Learning Questionaire, ALQ), social anxiety (measured by the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised), and bully victimisation (measured by the Personal Experiences Checklist, PECK) than those in the waitlist control group.   

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Research paper citations