Contribuições de jogos de tabuleiro no desenvolvimento socioemocional de adolescentes

Abstract

Adolescents, still in school, need encouragement to build life projects, set goals, develop purpose, and encourage training to foster employment opportunities and social integration. In this context, the use of educational technologies such as games is central to the learning process. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the board games "GPS of Life" and "Game of Trajectories" on the socioemotional development of adolescents. This is a quantitative study with quasi-experimental characteristics, with pre-test and post-test, conducted with a single group that participated in the proposed board game interventions. For data collection, all adolescents were divided into groups so that they could participate in both interventions: the first intervention was conducted with the game "GPS of Life" and the second with the "Game of Trajectories and Vulnerabilities." Both groups consisted of up to eight participants, according to the rules of each game. They were assessed before and after the intervention using the following instruments: the Sociodemographic Characteristics Questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-por), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (EAR), and the Resilience Scale for Children and Adolescents (RSCA). On the SDQ-por, progressive improvement was observed in the Emotional Symptoms and Conduct Problems subscales. In Emotional Symptoms, the proportion of adolescents with normal scores increased from 70.3% in the pre-test to 77.7% in post-test 1 and 81.4% in post-test 2. In Conduct Problems, normal scores increased from 29.6% in the pre-test to 44.4% after the first game, reaching 55.5% in post-test 2, demonstrating positive progress after the interventions. On the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale, it was found that, in the pre-test, 88.8% of adolescents had unsatisfactory self- esteem, decreasing to 74% after the interventions, while those with satisfactory self-esteem increased from 11.1% to 25.9%. On the RSCA, slight improvements were observed in the subscales evaluated. On the Control scale, the majority remained with low scores throughout the study, although the "high" category increased from 0% in the pre-test to 14.8% in post-test 1, decreasing to 7.4% in post-test 2. On the Relationship Capacity scale, there was relative stability, with emphasis on the "high" category, which increased from 25.9% to 33.3% after the first game, but fell to 22.2% after the second. In Emotional Reactivity, where lower scores indicate greater resilience, the percentage of adolescents with low scores rose from 74% in the pre-test to 81.4% in post-test 1, but returned to 70.3% in post-test 2, suggesting a stronger effect of the "GPS of Life" in this dimension. Thus, evaluating the contributions of the board games "GPS of Life" and "Game of Trajectories and Vulnerabilities" to the socio-emotional development of adolescents, positive changes can be observed in the scores obtained on the assessment scales administered before and after the game interventions. Analysis of the scores for each instrument shows that both games successfully promoted improvements in socio- emotional aspects related to participants' strengths and difficulties, self-esteem, and resilience.