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Digital technology has great potential for educating today’s digitally oriented adolescents on health. In particular, digital health gamified learning can make the promotion of the sexual well-being of adolescents more effective. Although venereal diseases such as HIV/AIDS have become a greater problem in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries than in any country outside of Africa, little is publicly known about the development of gamified learning for use in counter-measures. This paper aims to address that deficit by presenting the process of developing one such game. The paper highlights how the “My Future Begins Today” game for sexual health education was developed, evaluated and refined in the real-world of low-tech settings and made improvements based on the response of users.

Design-based research (DBR) was used to guide the design, develop, test and refine the digital game in iterative cycles. The evaluation of the effectiveness of iterations of the game was done using adolescent sexual health literacy tests and the validated Motivation, Attitude, Knowledge and Engagement framework, the authors developed based on existing approaches. That framework combines the elements of motivation, attitude, knowledge and engagement, effectiveness was evaluated based on the game’s ability to motivate students, improve their attitudes, increase their acquisition of knowledge and engage them in learning self-rating surveys and interviews. The whole process of game design, testing, evaluation and refinement were underpinned by the activity theory, DBR and participatory design (PD) research.

Participants in the gamified learning platforms demonstrated higher average scores on their post-tests than their counterparts subjected to the traditional teaching classroom. Also, gamified learning groups commented positively on the effectiveness of their instructional approach than their counterparts in the traditional learning group. The stakeholders’ involvement in developing gamified learning provided a good understanding of the importance of the game to the adolescent students and how it was going to be used to address the problem identified. The application of PD contributed to the effectiveness of the game. It involved various actors from various fields who were relevant to the game. Also, engaging targeted users from the beginning resulted in the creation of a better correspondence with the preferences of end-users.

This study has contributed to a better understanding of sex education and knowledge in the area of adolescent reproductive health issues, using developed innovative game mechanics features and its applicability in low-tech settings.

The study will be a recommendation for future researchers in applying this gamified learning concept and its suitability in their teaching practice, particularly regarding sexual health education and adolescent reproductive health issues in low-tech settings of SSA.

Appropriate and deliberate use of drug prevention methods is the key to educating children about the dangers of addiction and the way of prevention. With the growing prevalence of digital games among youngsters, health education and communication among children can try adopting advergames on digital television instead of traditional media, which has also been supported by prior research. It is, therefore, this research attempts to apply digital games as a means of health promotion and carry drug prevention messages through digital gameplay. Based on behavioral models, this research investigated the communication design and effectiveness of advergames for children's health promotion.

Two studies were conducted in this research. In Study 1, the research team investigated how public health message was assimilated into advergames, which affect the health behaviors of children, they are (1) Knowledge about Drug, (2) Attitude Toward Drug and (3) Perceived Severity toward Drug-abuse. In Study 2, this research investigated the effects of the advergames on children through a between-group experiment. A pre-test/post-test for the control group and experimental group with 180 primary school children in Hong Kong was conducted.

The finding showed the potential use of advergames in health communication among children. The result proved that the anti-drug advergame is a more successful intervention among the participating children in the experimental group than the control group. The result triggers further investigations in academic, professional and educational values for advergames design, health education and communication areas.

Because of the chosen small sampling locally in Hong Kong, the research results may lack generalizability for other countries or practices.

The study evokes children's awareness of drug prevention, encourages their physical and emotional wellness, and finally advocates a healthy lifestyle for them, through the deployment of health game communication.

Despite this research studied the use of advergames, instead of digital games in general, for health promotion and delivering drug prevention messages. The research design distinctively allowed the primary students to participate in the design of the advergames instead of being passive players and/or in the information delivery process. This approach is indeed a pioneer attempt in that limited practice has been found academically. The study expands academic and practical knowledge on health game communication.

There is an urgent need to upscale accessible mental health (MH) interventions that address barriers to care among Syrian refugee adolescents. The Happy Helping Hand (HH) is an innovative, cognitive behavioral digital game designed to improve MH for adolescents across digital divides. This study aims to examine the impact of HH implemented among Syrian refugees who varied according to group size and face-to-face (F2F) versus digital contact.

This mixed-methods study took place in Central Beqaa, Lebanon, from September 2020 to February 2021. Nine groups of Syrian displaced adolescents (n = 125) aged 13–17 years (M_age = 13.6 years) were recruited from an education center, two orphanages and one informal settlement to participate in the ten-session HH program. The WHO-Five-Well-being Index (WHO5) is a validated measure used to evaluate HH impact on MH at baseline and directly postintervention.

Significant improvements were seen in WHO5 scores in F2F and digital settings from baseline to follow-up. At baseline, 28% reported normal well-being, which increased to 99% after HH participation. WHO5 scores changed from M = 59.4 at baseline, indicating depression, to M = 77.3 at follow-up, indicating normal well-being. Smaller groups with more F2F contact reported greater improvements in mean WHO5 than larger groups with less F2F contact. The greatest aggregate change in well-being was achieved when HH was implemented digitally in bigger groups.

Study results indicate that the HH game can improve well-being and MH for Syrian refugees. Importantly, results build on the base of evidence on digital MH interventions as promising tools on the way to ensure healthy lives and well-being for all.

The globe has experienced a devastating COVID-19 pandemic, putting the planet under lockdown and causing social alienation. The near collapse of social and economic activities is disrupting the supply chain. Customer-required products were in low supply across the world. A slew of new digital firms springs up to fill the need during this time. This study aims to reach a holistic goal by better understanding customers' digitalisation behaviour. The first step is to review existing consumer digital psychology research to map this study’s current knowledge of the pandemic's early and late phases and the impact of digital businesses on consumer behaviour. Finally, it provides lawmakers with a future agenda for limiting the digital psychology of consumers and enterprises.

This study used the Scopus and Web of Science databases to extract records to follow the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses statement. The final 57 papers were applied after the screening process. The digital environment, psychological digitalisation and behavioural changes were recognised as three primary classes based on a comprehensive examination of the previous literature. This study identified possible difficulties in earlier literature: the scarcity of collaborative and transdisciplinary research on digital psychology, which various academics have emphasised in the past. On the other hand, these investigations were primarily conducted in the psychological surroundings of technology users.

According to this study, digital psychology has improved significantly during the pandemic and many new digital start-ups have arisen. This study also used digital research to create a framework for a pandemic strategic response plan to help minimise the current COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future outbreaks.

The study mapped existing literature on digital psychology alterations because of the novel COVID-19 outbreak.

The purpose of this study is to describe primary health-care managers’ perceptions of management competencies at different management levels in digital health services using the management competency assessment program as a framework.

A secondary analysis study involving 21 semi-structured individual interviews was conducted among Finnish primary health-care managers at different management levels (frontline, middle and senior). The deductive framework method was used to analyze the data.

Similarities and differences were found in management competencies between different levels of management. Competencies related to the use of digitalization were highlighted by managers at all management levels. Managers at all management levels were involved in developing digital solutions and supporting employees in using digital solutions in their work. Frontline and middle managers emphasized more issues related to day-to-day management and communication with employees, whereas senior managers highlighted the management of large entities.

In the secondary analysis, data were used for purposes other than originally intended. Therefore, the data are subject to limitations of the methodology applied and should be transferred to other contexts with caution.

Identifying the management competencies needed to manage digital health services is important to target managers’ training according to needs in the future.

The results could be used to develop the management of digital health services, as well as improve digital health services and their deployment.

Previous literature mostly examined managers’ informatics competencies and paid little attention to other management competencies. This study discusses more broadly the management competencies that digital health services require from managers at different levels of management.

This study aims to propose a model for predicting consumers’ esports videogame engagement on their ensuing consumption behaviors, which remains nebulous to date.

After approaching esports consumers in different gaming zones in Pakistan, this paper collected data from 364 videogame-based esports consumers. This paper deployed SmartPLS 3.2.8 software to perform the partial least squares-structural equation modeling-based analyzes.

The structural model results show that consumers’ affective and behavioral esports videogame engagement positively affects their consumption behavior, including heightened community engagement, purchase intent, coproduction, word-of-mouth and new player recruitment. However, while consumers’ cognitive esports engagement was found to positively impact community engagement, new player recruitment and coproduction, it failed to predict consumers’ esports-related purchase intent or word-of-mouth behaviors.

The findings reveal that a strategic focus on consumers’ esports game engagement will enable practitioners to nurture desirable consumer behaviors, including enhanced purchase intent, coproduction, word-of-mouth and new player recruitment behaviors, thus warranting consumer engagement’s strategic value as a key esports gaming metric.

Empirical research into the role of consumers’ esports videogame engagement on their ensuing consumption behaviors remains scant to date. Based on this gap, this study offers a timely contribution by exploring and validating a model that gauges the effect of consumers’ cognitive, emotional and behavioral esports videogame engagement on their community engagement, purchase intention, coproduction, word-of-mouth and new player recruitment. It, thus, offers important insight into the rapidly advancing field of digital esports games.

The purpose of this paper is to set out the process by which a smart specialisation strategy was developed for a small, peripheral economy in the European Union, the Republic of Malta. It assesses the applicability of the approach in the context of a micro-economy with an industrial structure based on a small number of foreign direct investments and a predominance of micro-enterprises.

The paper follows an action research approach by presenting as a case study the process by which the strategy for Malta was assessed and developed through successive rounds of engagement with business and other actors with the application of scenarios and other prioritisation approaches to facilitate its development. An initial consultation with 20 public sector and representative organisations was followed by a general business workshop and 21 sectoral focus groups.

Lack of critical mass can be mitigated by maximising the generic use of available skills and competences. Given the higher vulnerability to external shock in micro-economies, strategies need to have a high degree of flexibility and adaptability. Greater internationalisation provides the main response to peripherality.

The approach can be applied more generally for micro-economies and in some aspects to other countries or regions lacking critical mass in research and innovation assets or facing peripherality.

The smart specialisation approach had not been applied in these circumstances and hence the findings allowed the concept to be extended and adapted to deal with the issues raised.

This study presents findings leading to the conclusion that cyberbullying in massively multiplayer online (MMO) games can be conceptualized, measured and at least partially explained as a normative phenomenon, similar to Latane & Darley's (1970) bystander inaction hypothesis. An overall sample of N=372 respondents to an online survey provided information on their daily amount of Internet use and daily amount of time engaged in playing in MMO games. Scales for the assessment of both cyberbullying victimization and bullying itself were developed. Victims of cyberbullying appear more sensitive to bullying incidents albeit no more likely than game players who have engaged in bullying to intervene in preventing it. Perpetrators of cyberbullying, however, also appear to be heavily invested in both Internet use and MMO game play and that could amplify an individual's aggressiveness as a player in turn making it more likely they will engage in cyberbullying. The study concludes with a qualitative examination of MMO game player narrative self-explanations for nonintervention in cyberbullying that parallels Latane and Darley's explanation of bystander nonintervention in face-to-face threatening or emergency contexts.