Ruby's Mission: Teaching Skills to Chronically Ill Children to Reduce Feelings of Loneliness Through an Applied Gaming Intervention

In this dissertation, the potential of videogames to help reduce loneliness in children growing up with a chronic illness is explored. These children often have fewer opportunities to play with peers, which can lead to delays in developing socioemotional skills—such as recognizing emotions in themselves and others, understanding why they feel a certain way, or realizing that others may experience emotions differently. The needs of these children were first explored. Their gaming habits were also examined and compared to those of healthy children and those who game problematically. No reason was found to believe that children with chronic illnesses game differently than their healthy peers. Next, a videogame was co-designed together with children with chronic conditions, healthy children, and other stakeholders. The goal of the game is to create a shared play experience where children with and without chronic illness can learn from each other’s emotions. After all, socioemotional skills are mainly learned through interaction with others. Subsequently studies focused on how children’s socio-emotional skills related to their in-game social interactions. The findings indicate that these skills do influence how children interact, though other factors—such as group composition—also play a role. The potential to actively encourage more positive interactions through the game’s design was also explored. Finally, the dissertation reflects on what kinds of research are still needed to better support these children and reduce their feelings of loneliness through video gameplay.