Improving Children's Psychosocial Health (Self-Esteem, Social Self-Efficacy, and Moral Intelligence) through Teaching Moral Virtues via Animation, Storytelling, Illustrations, and Digital Games

Introduction: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of four media (animation, storytelling, illustrations, and digital games) on children's psychosocial health.
Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group design and a one-month follow-up. From fifth-grade female students in public schools in Isfahan, Iran, 100 participants were selected using cluster random sampling and assigned to five groups of 20 (four experimental groups: animation, storytelling, illustrations, digital games; and one control group). Research instruments included the Self-Esteem Scale, the Social Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Moral Intelligence Scale.
Results: Comparisons of each experimental group with the control group revealed that all interventions had significant effects on the psychological constructs (p < 0.05), but their effectiveness differed markedly. For self-esteem, illustrations showed the largest effect (η² = 0.664) and digital games the smallest (η² = 0.149). For social self-efficacy, illustrations (η² = 0.623) and animation (η² = 0.509) were more effective than storytelling (η² = 0.457) and digital games (η² = 0.088, non-significant). Moreover, while animation, storytelling, and illustrations significantly improved all seven moral virtues, digital games only had a significant effect on "self-control" (p = 0.002). All effects remained stable at the one-month follow-up.
Conclusion: Media are powerful tools for promoting children's psychosocial health and have the potential to become "therapeutic adjuncts." This study demonstrated that the use of media by physicians, nurses, midwives, and child psychologists is feasible for reducing anxiety, improving treatment adherence in chronic diseases, psychological preparation before surgery, facilitating therapeutic communication with children, and more.
Introduction
Children's psychosocial health is the cornerstone of healthy development, resilience, and the prevention of behavioral problems. In the digital age, the purposeful integration of media with educational and therapeutic methods can open a new pathway for enhancing this health. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of four media (animation, storytelling, illustrations, and digital games) on children's psychosocial health.
Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group design and a one-month follow-up. From fifth-grade female students in public schools in Isfahan, Iran, 100 participants were selected using cluster random sampling and assigned to five groups of 20 (four experimental groups: animation, storytelling, illustrations, digital games; and one control group). Research instruments included the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1965), the Wheeler and Ladd Social Self-Efficacy Scale (1982), and the Borba Moral Intelligence Scale (2010). Interventions were delivered in nine training sessions based on the seven moral virtues, and data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA).
Results: Comparisons of each experimental group with the control group revealed that all interventions had significant effects on the psychological constructs (p < 0.05), but their effectiveness differed markedly. For self-esteem, illustrations showed the largest effect (η² = 0.664) and digital games the smallest (η² = 0.149). For social self-efficacy, illustrations (η² = 0.623) and animation (η² = 0.509) were more effective than storytelling (η² = 0.457) and digital games (η² = 0.088, non-significant). Moreover, while animation, storytelling, and illustrations significantly improved all seven moral virtues, digital games only had a significant effect on "self-control" (p = 0.002). All effects remained stable at the one-month follow-up.
Conclusion: Media are powerful tools for promoting children's psychosocial health and have the potential to become "therapeutic adjuncts." This study demonstrated that the use of media by physicians, nurses, midwives, and child psychologists is feasible for reducing anxiety, improving treatment adherence in chronic diseases, psychological preparation before surgery, facilitating therapeutic communication with children, and more.