Improved socio-emotional skills in students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) following an intervention supported by an augmented gamified environment

This study examines the impact of an intervention using an Augmented Gamified Environment (AGE) to stimulate socio-emotional skills in a sample of 54 subjects with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) aged between 3 and 17 years old. The study used a quantitative, exploratory, analytical methodology. Socio-emotional skills were evaluated before and after intervention (pre-posttest) using the DiagnosticApp instrument, supported by a fun app. The study specifically analyzed their ability to identify primary and secondary emotions and emotional states, as well as the cause-effect relationship linked to a context. The results show that socio-emotional skills improved after the intervention, regardless of gender, age, degree of ASD, comorbidity, or type of language. Overall, the greatest improvement was in identifying both primary and secondary emotions through recognizing facial expressions. Additionally, as expected, older students, and those with less severe ASD and more functional language exhibited higher scores in their socio-emotional skills. In conclusion, the extrinsic motivation associated with the mix of game mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics, along with the augmented reality resources making up the AGE, are key contributing elements in improving these students’ socio-emotional skills. • Augmented Gamified Environment allows the stimulation of socio-emotional skills in students with ASD. • Improvement in socio-emotional skills across all subjects post-intervention, irrespective of gender, age, severity of ASD, comorbidities, or language type. • Significant enhancement observed in identifying primary and secondary emotions, particularly through recognizing facial expressions. • Older students, those with milder ASD, and more functional language abilities displayed higher scores in socio-emotional skills post-intervention.