NCT05858593

Positive Youth Development in the Metaverse

Positive Youth Development in the Metaverse - Development of a Virtual Reality Afterschool Program for Middle Childhood Youth

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 31 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Georgia · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 9 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This pilot study aims to leverage VR's capacity to easily replicate content and allow for multiple users to share the same space and engage in activities as if they're meeting in person. Integrating VR into afterschool programs will allow youth to receive more consistent programming content, even when they are unable to travel to the physical location for the in-person meetings.

Detailed description

This pilot study aims to leverage VR's capacity to easily replicate content and allow for multiple users to share the same space and engage in activities as if they're meeting in person. Integrating VR into afterschool programs will allow youth to receive more consistent programming content, even when they are unable to travel to the physical location for the in-person meetings. It will also empower youth to engage with the afterschool program at their own pace by providing a safe space to learn and practice their socioemotional skills. Implemented at scale, these benefits of a VR-integrated afterschool program will be able to address the issues of health inequity head on by expanding access to high quality afterschool content without incurring high operating costs. The results from this pilot study will provide a critical foundation to apply for an extramurally funded clinical trial to demonstrate the efficacy of a VR-integrated afterschool program on youth mental wellbeing. Aim 1: Determine feasibility of a VR-integrated afterschool program where youth can access the VR content on their own at home. Aim 2: Test the hypothesis that complementing the in-person afterschool program with VR will increase a) engagement and b) socioemotional competencies in youth. Aim 3: Test the hypothesis that youth will demonstrate better mental wellbeing when the in-person afterschool program is complemented with VR.

Conditions

• Healthy
• Healthy Lifestyle
• Childhood ALL
• Behavior, Child

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Virtual reality curriculum	Rather than rely on mere exposure to devices, participants in the treatment group will receive a curriculum that integrates the devices into traditional content delivered through the after school program.
BEHAVIORAL	No Virtual reality curriculum	Children will be able to use the same devices but will not have access to a curriculum that integrates the devices with traditional content delivered through the after school program.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-10-15
• Primary completion: 2024-07-30
• Completion: 2024-07-30
• First posted: 2023-05-15
• Last updated: 2024-12-27

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States