3-198 - Reducing Youth Anxiety with Biofeedback Video Games: Randomized Control Trials and Mechanisms of Change

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Video gaming is a promising tool for decreasing youth anxiety for several reasons: (1)Need – anxiety disorders affect up to 20% of youth and almost as many have subclinical anxiety problems, yet demand exceeds the supply of intervention and prevention; (2)Engagement – in contrast to the didactic nature of therapy, games are immersive, maintaining youth attention on evidence-based therapeutic content; (3)Practice – games provide opportunities to repeatedly practice evidence-based techniques, with difficulty level incremented based on success; (4)Cost – therapy is expensive and schools face cuts to prevention programs, thus relatively inexpensive video games can fill this gap with greater accessibility. The symposium presentations report on five scientifically rigorous studies of two biofeedback video games that were designed with evidence-based features to reduce anxiety.

Presentation 1 reports on two RCTs of the effect of Dojo, an interactive game that teaches youth how to regulate their emotions and arousal. Youth in both studies showed significant declines in anxiety. Presentation 2 reports on two Dutch RCTs of the effect of MindLight, a neurofeedback game that allows players to practice controlling attention and arousal in a mildly threatening situation. Significant reductions in anxiety were found in both samples. Using the MindLight intervention group from a Canadian RCT, Presentation 3 examines which game mechanisms accounted for variability in anxiety reduction. Fewer safety behaviors, more engagement with anxiety-provoking events, and better attention to positive stimuli were associated with steeper anxiety reductions. A leading expert in developmental psychopathology will discuss theoretical, developmental, and clinical implications.

Sub Unit

• Technology, Media & Child Development

Chair

• Tom Hollenstein, Queen's University

Discussant

• Nicholas B. Allen, University of Oregon

Individual Presentations

• The Effectiveness of an Immersive 3D Video Game for Preventing Anxiety: Results from Studies on High-Risk Adolescents - Presenting Author: Rutger Engels, Trimbos-Institute, The Netherlands; Angela Schuurmans, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Pluryn, The Netherlands; Hanneke Scholten, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

• Effects of a Neurofeedback Video Game to Prevent Childhood Anxiety: Two Randomized Controlled Trials - Presenting Author: Isabella Granic, Radboud University; Elke Schoneveld, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

• Exposure, Safety Behaviors, and Attention to Positive Stimuli while Playing the Video Game MindLight Predict Anxiety Reduction - Presenting Author: Kalee De France, Queen's University; Tiffany Tsui, Queen's University; Tom Hollenstein, Queen's University