Digital games and virtual reality applications in child abuse: A scoping review and conceptual framework

Child abuse refers to any form of maltreatment, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect that occurs to children under 18 years of age. Digital games and virtual reality (VR) can be used as beneficial solutions for dealing with child maltreatment concerns. This study aimed to present a conceptual framework for showing the applications of these technologies in managing child abuse. The framework is developed in two stages: (1) a scoping review to gather digital games and VR applications for child abuse issues through the search in PubMed, Ovid (APA PsycInfo), Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and grey literature and (2) developing a conceptual framework based on the review results and validating it by 12 experts. The proposed conceptual framework shows that digital games and VR have been used for six main topics: (1) medical education, (2) prevention, (3) screening, (4) diagnosis, (5) treatment, and (6) forensic medicine in response to child abuse issues. Studies have more focused on child sexual abuse prevention, behavioral monitoring of sexual offenders in forensic medicine, and knowledge or performance assessment of students in medical education. Serious games (SGs), computer simulation, and immersive VR were common technologies for children, students, and forensic medicine, respectively. The experts believe the combination of immersive features of VR with SGs can further encourage user engagement. It appears that digital games and VR can play a positive role in child abuse management. Given the extensive capabilities of these technologies, further studies are needed to show all their potential applications for child abuse problems.