A Systematic Review of Serious Games for Training Emotion Regulation Skills in Preschool Children

Abstract

Emotion regulation (ER) is a vital skill that supports children's social, emotional, and cognitive development. Although early childhood education plays a key role in nurturing these abilities, traditional teaching strategies often lack engagement and interactivity. Serious games (SGs) have emerged as an innovative tool to promote ER by providing immersive and interactive experiences tailored to young children. This systematic review examines the current landscape of SGs aimed at enhancing ER in preschool-aged children (3-5 years), focusing on methodologies, technological strategies, and research gaps. Following PRISMA guidelines, a literature search was conducted across IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, and Scopus, using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. From an initial pool of 343 records, 37 studies met the final eligibility criteria. Findings indicate that while SGs hold promise for supporting ER, most existing solutions target clinical populations, such as children with autism spectrum disorder, rather than normative samples of preschoolers. Furthermore, few studies employ a co-design approach involving educators, psychologists, and children, despite this being crucial for creating age-appropriate and engaging interventions. The integration of these games into formal educational settings also remains limited. This review highlights the lack of SGs designed specifically for ER in preschool-aged children. By identifying key needs and best practices, the review lays the groundwork for the development of a new game, currently underway, that aims to effectively and engagingly address this gap.