Using Gaming and Biosensors to Improve Child Anxiety Prevention Efforts in Effectiveness Settings

There is empirical support for the effects of childhood anxiety preventive interventions; however, program effect sizes are relatively modest (.18 to .26; Fisak & Mann, 2011). Assuming implementation quality is high, effects could be remediated by increasing program dosage, especially if focusing on putative mediators of change (Kraemer et al., 2002), aspects of control systems engineering (Pina et al., 2014), and technology (Pramana et al., 2014). We thus argue that anxiety prevention efforts could be improved by augmenting and personalizing the dosage of: (a) cognitive self-control training for biases in information processing that designate situations as threatening and (b) self-evaluation training to improve emotion understanding and the capacity to manage anxiety provoking situations. To gain some sense about the viability of improving putative mediators (a) and (b), we are conducting a study that involves biosensors, gaming technology, and REACH for Personal and Academic Success, a indicated prevention program (6-session/30min each; NIMH 1K01 MH086687-01A1; A. A. Pina, PI) delivered by school staff (psychologists, social workers) during school hours