The Challenge: How can Yale University's play2PREVENT (p2P) Lab harness the power of “play” to help high school students practice valuable skills, gain knowledge, and take action to improve their school environment?

The Solution: With funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Yale’s p2P Lab partnered with Schell Games to create a story-based digital intervention that aims to encourage high school students to take action if they see improvements that can be made to their own school environment and to recognize that such change is feasible.

The Results: empowerED is a digital intervention that illustrates the “Think It Through” method, through which players can learn how to restructure negative automatic thoughts in relatable situations. The gameplay of the intervention involves a series of six stories in which the player swipes left or right to decide how to progress through each scenario. By utilizing aspects of the "Think It Through" method (Feel it, Name it, Sync it, Know it, Flip it, Master it, Connect it, and Share it) the player practices strategies they can apply to events in their own school.

Data from a completed pilot randomized controlled trial to test the user experience, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of the intervention was analyzed. A manuscript with these findings is currently under review at a peer-reviewed journal.

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