MindLight: A Video Game Intervention to Reduce Children's Anxiety
1 other identifier
interventional
200
1 country
1
Brief Summary
Anxiety is the most prevalent form of children's mental health problems and demand far exceeds treatment availability. Even when children do have access to care, evidence-based treatments such as cognitive-behavioural therapy have several limitations: they are largely didactic, leaving children unmotivated and disengaged; children get little practice in using the skills they are taught, creating a large gap between their knowledge and their everyday behaviour and therapy is costly, often prohibitive for the children that most need it. Therapeutic video games can address each of these gaps: they are engaging contexts through which children practice skills (rather than memorize lessons), and they cost substantially less than conventional approaches. The proposed research will test the effectiveness of MindLight, an innovative video game that targets childhood anxiety problems. MindLight incorporates several evidence-based strategies including relaxation and exposure techniques, attention bias modification methods, and neurofeedback mechanics that together produce an immersive game world through which children learn to manage and overcome anxiety symptoms. Two randomized controlled studies with 8-16 year old children are proposed to test the effectiveness of MindLight in reducing anxiety: the first is a prevention study aimed at children at risk for developing serious anxiety problems and the second is a clinical trial aimed at decreasing symptoms in anxiety-disordered children. Children randomly assigned to the intervention group will play MindLight for 5 hours over 2-3 weeks; control participants in the prevention sample will play a commercial video game with a similar theme for the same amount of time whereas control participants in the clinical sample will use an online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) program. Both studies will assess children's anxiety levels before the intervention, just after, and at a 3-month follow-up. Moderators (e.g., comorbidities) and mediators (e.g., attention biases) will be assessed to identify potential mechanisms of change associated with successful intervention effects.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P75+ for phase_2 anxiety
Started Dec 2014
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
Click on a node to explore related trials.
Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
Study Start
First participant enrolled
December 1, 2014
CompletedFirst Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
December 15, 2014
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
December 29, 2014
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
June 1, 2016
CompletedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
June 1, 2016
CompletedApril 1, 2016
March 1, 2016
1.5 years
December 15, 2014
March 30, 2016
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (1)
Change in Spence Children's Anxiety Scale following intervention
Widely used scale for measuring children's anxiety will be used to determine the degree of reduction in anxiety symptoms immediately following the intervention and whether this reduction is maintained at a 3-month follow-up.
Pre-Tx (1st lab visit), Post-Tx (2nd lab visit 3 weeks later), Follow-up (final lab visit 3 months later)
Study Arms (2)
MindLight
EXPERIMENTALMindLight is the video game being tested for effectiveness to reduce child anxiety
Online CBT
ACTIVE COMPARATOROnline CBT program for children
Interventions
MindLight is a video game that uses neurofeedback as part of game mechanics. Participants play for 5 hours total over 3 weeks. Measures taken pre, post, and 3-month follow-up.
Five sessions of power point slides that cover primary concepts and homework of cognitive behavioral therapy. Adapted for children. Measures taken pre, post, and 3-month follow-up.
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- Elevated levels or clinical diagnosis of anxiety
You may not qualify if:
- Developmental disorders or autism
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
- Queen's Universitylead
- Ontario Mental Health Foundationcollaborator
Study Sites (1)
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada
Related Publications (1)
Tsui TYL, DeFrance K, Khalid-Khan S, Granic I, Hollenstein T. Reductions of Anxiety Symptoms, State Anxiety, and Anxious Arousal in Youth Playing the Videogame MindLight Compared to Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Games Health J. 2021 Oct;10(5):330-338. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2020.0083. Epub 2021 Aug 17.
PMID: 34403591DERIVED
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Interventions
Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Study Officials
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Tom Hollenstein, PhD
Queen's University
Central Study Contacts
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- phase 2
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- NONE
- Purpose
- TREATMENT
- Intervention Model
- PARALLEL
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
- PI Title
- Associate Professor
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
December 15, 2014
First Posted
December 29, 2014
Study Start
December 1, 2014
Primary Completion
June 1, 2016
Study Completion
June 1, 2016
Last Updated
April 1, 2016
Record last verified: 2016-03
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will share
Data will be shared