Could Gamification Be a Protective Factor Regarding Early School Leaving? A Life Story Guerrero Puerta, Laura M. Guerrero, Miguel Ángel Gamification Adolescence Game-Based Learning Early school leaving Dropouts Wellbeing Mental health Life story Grounded Theory The European Union has recognized the close relationship between mental health, wellbeing, and education, encouraging studies and whole school interventions that work in the interrelationship between mental health and school, especially in aspects related to Early School Leaving (ESL). Literature shows that there are research gaps in this regard, but there are some inklings to think that innovative teaching methods can improve both adolescent´s mental health and reduce the rates of ESL. The main objective of this article was to find out how the use of game-based teaching techniques affects the well-being of students at risk of ESL. The life story of one young student that has left school early has been studied, focusing on the impact that gamification had in his scholar trajectory and well-being. Data analysis was carried using the constructivist version of the grounded theory. Results showed a certain degree of interrelation between all three aspects. Pointing that a period of gamification can have a positive effect in school engagement as a result of better levels of wellbeing, but also, that if this methodology is not maintained or accompanied it can cause a rebound effect acting as a risk factor to ESL. 2021-05-27T16:37:09Z 2021-05-27T16:37:09Z 2021 journal article Guerrero-Puerta, L.; Guerrero, M.A. Could Gamification Be a Protective Factor Regarding Early School Leaving? A Life Story. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2569. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052569 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/68793 10.3390/su13052569 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ open access Atribución 3.0 España MDPI