The co-creation design process of 'You & I': a serious game to support mentalizing and stress-regulating abilities in adults with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities

Interventions to support mentalizing abilities are relevant for all people to enhance social skills and well-being. For people with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities, learning mentalizing skills may be challenging, however, because of the abstract and complex nature of the construct. The application of serious games has the potential to teach and train in these skills and engage this target group in treatment. This study investigates the key elements of a design model for a serious game aimed at learning abstract skills, taking into account the needs and wishes of adults with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities. We first searched the literature for guidelines covering effective interventions and for game design elements with the potential to train in abstract skills and motivate this specific group. We then included co-researchers with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities in guiding the development of the serious game 'You & I'. Here we describe application of the recommendations from the literature to the development of the game and the co-creation process. This process resulted in key elements described in a design model that provides more structured knowledge for future studies of teaching abstract skills using a serious game in this population.