# The Park of Emotions\": A Serious Game for the Development of Emotional Intelligence in Children
## 4 Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Variables**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Pre-Test**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Post-Test**} \\ \cline{2-9}  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Experimental Group**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Control Group**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Experimental Group**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Control Group**} \\ \cline{2-9}  & **Boys (N = 106)** & **Girls (N = 112)** & **Boys (N = 113)** & **Girls (N = 105)** & **Boys (N = 106)** & **Girls (N = 112)** & **Boys (N = 113)** & **Girls (N = 105)** \\ \hline ES & 18.91 (3.45) & 19.01 (3.25) & 18.37 (3.26) & 19.15 (3.31) & 22.06 (2.01) & 22.04 (2.04) & 20.16 (2.73) & 20.41 (3.17) \\ ERPE & 17.49 (2.58) & 17.55 (2.63) & 17.63 (2.92) & 18.11 (2.60) & 19.47 (2.15) & 19.40 (3.09) & 18.45 (3.10) & 19.14 (2.54) \\ SA & 17.68 (2.55) & 17.63 (2.44) & 17.92 (2.81) & 18.28 (2.93) & 19.08 (1.89) & 18.46 (2.03) & 18.29 (2.14) & 18.38 (2.57) \\ SM & 17.29 (3.86) & 17.84 (3.72) & 17.23 (3.80) & 17.81 (3.95) & 18.64 (2.08) & 18.43 (2.63) & 17.42 (2.86) & 17.47 (3.15) \\ SAED & 20.16 (3.95) & 20.79 (3.72) & 20.47 (3.60) & 21.20 (3.42) & 22.16 (2.25) & 22.61 (2.29) & 20.77 (3.02) & 21.57 (2.96) \\ SSE & 19.85 (2.85) & 19.82 (2.98) & 19.76 (2.82) & 20.16 (2.74) & 20.37 (1.42) & 20.11 (1.94) & 19.52 (2.03) & 19.98 (2.22) \\ SACT & 19.73 (3.02) & 19.96 (3.09) & 19.91 (2.65) & 20.62 (2.71) & 19.96 (2.07) & 19.78 (2.49) & 18.87 (2.60) & 19.54 (2.28) \\ TRA & 19.34 (2.60) & 18.97 (2.76) & 19.15 (2.73) & 19.41 (2.57) & 19.36 (1.86) & 19.16 (2.16) & 18.59 (2.56) & 19.44 (2.00) \\ EUN & 22.25 (3.17) & 22.41 (3.77) & 22.42 (2.90) & 23.11 (3.14) & 23.31 (2.17) & 23.11 (2.66) & 21.97 (2.95) & 23.14 (2.44) \\ TOTAL & 172.70 (19.84) & 173.98 (20.84) & 172.86 (17.96) & 177.86 (19.78) & 184.42 (11.40) & 183.08 (15.27) & 174.04 (14.45) & 179.08 (16.08) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: Means and standard deviations for the emotional intelligence scale by gender. pre-intervention, with the control group scoring marginally better on almost all subscales except Emotional Stimuli (ES) and Self-Management (SM). On the other hand, the results for the ANCOVA, after the intervention, confirmed the existence of significant differences between the groups, as the participants in the experimental group had significantly higher scores compared to the participants in the control group in terms of the total score, as well as for all subscale scores. The only exception was the Transcendence subscale (TRA), where small differences were observed with the experimental group excelling. The largest positive effect of the intervention for participants in the experimental group was shown on the subscales of Emotional Stimuli (ES) and Social Awareness, Empathy, and Discrimination of Emotions (SAED). The control group on most of the subscales had a small decline in scores from pre-intervention scores. Specifically, there was a decline in the Self-Management (SM), Social Skills and Emotional Expertise (SSEE), Self-Actualization (SACT), Transcendence (TRA), and Emotional Unity (EUN) subscales. This finding shows the effectiveness of the game in the cultivation of individual emotional skills, as well as total emotional intelligence. These results validate the effectiveness of serious game and confirm the first hypothesis, leading in the same direction as other studies that have shown the effectiveness of improving/cultivating EI and individual emotional skills in different populations before and after the intervention by having two groups--experimental group and control group--using an SG as an intervention tool [41; 42; 62; 63; 64]. Regarding gender differences, the results of the univariate analysis showed that there were no significant differences between boys and girls in both groups (experimental and control group) before the intervention, with girls showing higher scores on the total score of HF, as well as in all subscales, even with a small difference in some of them, a fact that is consistent with the results of research concerning the two sexes [65; 66].