The effects of the Let's Get Rational board game on rational thinking,depression, and self-acceptance in adolescents

The present study investigated the effects of the Let's Get Rational board game on rational thinking, depression, and self-acceptance in high school students. A sample of 80 subjects (40 male, 40 female) was selected for participation in this study. Four experimental groups of 10 students played the board game Let's Get Rational for one 52 minute class period once a week for seven weeks. Three dependent measures were used. These included a measure of rational thinking (Child and Adolescent Scale of Irrationality), a measure of depression (Beck Depression Inventory), and a measure of self-acceptance (Adjective Generation Technique). Cell means were calculated for the following independent variables: 1) treatment vs. no treatment, 2) gender—male vs. female, and 3) grade level—9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th. Results indicated that the subjects in the experimental group agreed with fewer irrational beliefs than subjects who received no treatment. Ninth grade experimental subjects reported less irrational thinking than did 9th-grade control group subjects. Finally, 10th-grade experimental subjects were significantly less depressed than 10th-grade control subjects.