Abstract
Emotional dysregulation in childhood, which has been linked to significant social problems in older adolescence, is one of the most common reasons for pediatric mental health treatment and psychiatric hospitalizations. Behavioral approaches to treatment for these disorders are limited, however, resulting in increasing use of restraints and psychotropic drugs. A pilot study was implemented on an inpatient psychiatric unit to evaluate feasibility and provide proof of concept for a novel behavioral intervention comprised of anger control therapy (ACT), a cognitive-behavioraltherapy intervention, augmented by RAGE-Control, a videogame that trains players to regulate physiological arousal in a challenging but controlled situation. Patients (N=18, 9-17 years old) with high levels of anger documented by the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory-Child and Adolescent (STAXI-CA) were enrolled in a 5-session intervention (Experimental group). Changes in STAXI-CA State-Anger and Trait-Anger scores from baseline to Day 5 were compared to those of a demographically comparable treatment as usual (TAU) historic control group (N=19). The Experimental group showed large reductions in STAXI-CA scores, compared to the TAU group. Compliance and satisfaction were high. These findings support the feasibility of the ACT with RAGE-Control intervention. Randomized controlled trials augmenting ACT with the RAGE-Control game are needed to establish efficacy.
Keywords: Anger, cognitive-behavioral therapy, emotional regulation, videogames
Adolescent Psychiatry
Title:Augmenting Anger Control Therapy with a Videogame Requiring Emotional Control: A Pilot Study on an Inpatient Psychiatric Unit
Volume: 2 Issue: 4
Author(s): Peter Ducharme*, Elizabeth Wharff, Jason Kahn, Eliza Hutchinson, Grace Logan, Deborah Waber, Jennifer Holland, Gary Gosselin and Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich
Affiliation:
- Children’s Hospital Boston, Dept. of Psychiatry, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115,United States
Keywords: Anger, cognitive-behavioral therapy, emotional regulation, videogames
Abstract: Emotional dysregulation in childhood, which has been linked to significant social problems in older adolescence, is one of the most common reasons for pediatric mental health treatment and psychiatric hospitalizations. Behavioral approaches to treatment for these disorders are limited, however, resulting in increasing use of restraints and psychotropic drugs. A pilot study was implemented on an inpatient psychiatric unit to evaluate feasibility and provide proof of concept for a novel behavioral intervention comprised of anger control therapy (ACT), a cognitive-behavioraltherapy intervention, augmented by RAGE-Control, a videogame that trains players to regulate physiological arousal in a challenging but controlled situation. Patients (N=18, 9-17 years old) with high levels of anger documented by the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory-Child and Adolescent (STAXI-CA) were enrolled in a 5-session intervention (Experimental group). Changes in STAXI-CA State-Anger and Trait-Anger scores from baseline to Day 5 were compared to those of a demographically comparable treatment as usual (TAU) historic control group (N=19). The Experimental group showed large reductions in STAXI-CA scores, compared to the TAU group. Compliance and satisfaction were high. These findings support the feasibility of the ACT with RAGE-Control intervention. Randomized controlled trials augmenting ACT with the RAGE-Control game are needed to establish efficacy.
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Cite this article as:
Ducharme Peter*, Wharff Elizabeth, Kahn Jason, Hutchinson Eliza, Logan Grace, Waber Deborah, Holland Jennifer, Gosselin Gary and Gonzalez-Heydrich Joseph, Augmenting Anger Control Therapy with a Videogame Requiring Emotional Control: A Pilot Study on an Inpatient Psychiatric Unit, Adolescent Psychiatry 2012; 2 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2210676611202040323
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2210676611202040323 |
Print ISSN 2210-6766 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 2210-6774 |
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