Augmented Social Play (ASP): smartphone-enabled group psychotherapeutic interventions that boost adolescent mental health by supporting real-world connection and sense of belonging
A smartphone-based group therapy format called Augmented Social Play (ASP) is being tested in schools across the UK, Portugal, and Czechia to boost adolescents’ sense of belonging and mental health. Adolescent mental health is declining, and social isolation is rising, yet few evidence-based interventions exist that specifically target belonging—the feeling of being connected to and accepted by others. Schools remain a central social space for young people, but current digital tools often disrupt rather than strengthen real-world connection. This project fills that gap by turning smartphones into tools for collaborative, face-to-face group experiences that combine immersive storytelling, augmented reality, and psychotherapeutic methods. If successful, ASP could provide a scalable, cost-effective mental health intervention that is freely accessible to diverse populations. The researchers are co-developing the intervention with young people, including vulnerable adolescents, and will produce ethical guidelines and an evidence base for policymakers, practitioners, and media. The long-term goal is wide-scale adoption of multiple smartphone-delivered group interventions, potentially changing how schools and health services support adolescent mental health without requiring expensive infrastructure or specialist staff.
View original technical description
In our fast-changing society, poor mental health and social isolation are increasing among young people, exacerbated by the pandemic. Belonging – feeling connected to and accepted by others through supportive interpersonal relationships – is key to boosting mental health and overcoming loneliness. There is a lack of evidence-based interventions addressing belonging, particularly in schools, which remains a central space for adolescent socialisation. Digital technologies, while disrupting the social landscape, offer enormous potential for adolescent health management. This project develops Augmented Social Play (ASP), a pioneering digital mental health intervention format whose feasibility has been established through proof-of-concept prototype. ASP uses smartphones to deliver real world group experiences that combine immersive storytelling, augmented reality, collaborative face-to-face gameplay and evidence based psychotherapeutic methodologies to boost individuals’ mental health while fostering a greater sense of belonging within the group. Collaborating across academia, industry, education, health and the arts, and working with young people, we will co-develop ASP #1, a full-scale, multi-session intervention. We will implement this intervention in schools in Portugal, Czechia, and the UK, using strategies informed by policy review, and evaluate its efficacy, cost-effectiveness and implementation in order to present an evidence base to stakeholdersincluding policy-makers, practitioners and media,stimulating wide uptake. We will further evolve ASP by collaborating with vulnerable adolescents to ensure we meet the widest spectrum of needs; by prototyping additional ASP interventions aimed at different populations and threats to mental health; and by creating comprehensive ethical guidelines. Our long-term goal is wide-scale adoption of ASP, making multiple smartphone-delivered group mental health interventions freely accessible to diverse populations and settings.
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know