scholarly journals A Smart Toy Intervention to Promote Emotion Regulation in Middle Childhood: Feasibility Study

10.2196/14029 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. e14029
Author(s):  
Nikki Theofanopoulou ◽  
Katherine Isbister ◽  
Julian Edbrooke-Childs ◽  
Petr Slovák
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Object A ◽  
Intervention Delivery ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Prevention Interventions

Background A common challenge with existing psycho-social prevention interventions for children is the lack of effective, engaging, and scalable delivery mechanisms, especially beyond in-person therapeutic or school-based contexts. Although digital technology has the potential to address these issues, existing research on technology-enabled interventions for families remains limited. This paper focuses on emotion regulation (ER) as an example of a core protective factor that is commonly targeted by prevention interventions. Objective The aim of this pilot study was to provide an initial validation of the logic model and feasibility of in situ deployment for a new technology-enabled intervention, designed to support children’s in-the-moment ER efforts. The novelty of the proposed approach relies on delivering the intervention through an interactive object (a smart toy) sent home with the child, without any prior training necessary for either the child or their carer. This study examined (1) engagement and acceptability of the toy in the homes during 1-week deployments, and (2) qualitative indicators of ER effects, as reported by parents and children. Results Across all families, parents and children reported that the smart toy was incorporated into the children’s ER practices and engaged with naturally in moments the children wanted to relax or calm down. Data suggested that the children interacted with the toy throughout the deployment, found the experience enjoyable, and all requested to keep the toy longer. Children’s emotional connection to the toy appears to have driven this strong engagement. Parents reported satisfaction with and acceptability of the toy. Conclusions This is the first known study on the use of technology-enabled intervention delivery to support ER in situ. The strong engagement, incorporation into children’s ER practices, and qualitative indications of effects are promising. Further efficacy research is needed to extend these indicative data by examining the psychological efficacy of the proposed intervention. More broadly, our findings argue for the potential of a technology-enabled shift in how future prevention interventions are designed and delivered: empowering children and parents through child-led, situated interventions, where participants learn through actionable support directly within family life, as opposed to didactic in-person workshops and a subsequent skills application.

Feasibility study of technology-enabled prevention intervention for children and families (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikki Theofanopoulou ◽  
Katherine Isbister ◽  
Julian Edbrooke-Childs ◽  
Petr Slovák
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Digital Camera ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Object A ◽  
Intervention Delivery ◽  
Parents And Children

BACKGROUND A common challenge within psychiatry and prevention science more broadly is the lack of effective, engaging, and scale-able mechanisms to deliver psycho-social interventions for children, especially beyond in-person therapeutic or school-based contexts. Although digital technology has the potential to address these issues, existing research on technology-enabled interventions for families remains limited. OBJECTIVE The aim of this pilot study was to examine the feasibility of in-situ deployments of a low-cost, bespoke prototype, which has been designed to support children’s in-the-moment emotion regulation efforts. This prototype instantiates a novel intervention model that aims to address the existing limitations by delivering the intervention through an interactive object (a ‘smart toy’) sent home with the child, without any prior training necessary for either the child or their carer. This pilot study examined (i) engagement and acceptability of the device in the homes during 1 week deployments; and (ii) qualitative indicators of emotion regulation effects, as reported by parents and children. METHODS In this qualitative study, ten families (altogether 11 children aged 6-10 years) were recruited from three under-privileged communities in the UK. The RA visited participants in their homes to give children the ‘smart toy’ and conduct a semi-structured interview with at least one parent from each family. Children were given the prototype, a discovery book, and a simple digital camera to keep at home for 7-8 days, after which we interviewed each child and their parent about their experience. Thematic analysis guided the identification and organisation of common themes and patterns across the dataset. In addition, the prototypes automatically logged every interaction with the toy throughout the week-long deployments. RESULTS Across all 10 families, parents and children reported that the ‘smart toy’ was incorporated into children’s emotion regulation practices and engaged with naturally in moments children wanted to relax or calm down. Data suggests that children interacted with the toy throughout the duration of the deployment, found the experience enjoyable, and all requested to keep the toy longer. Child emotional connection to the toy—caring for its ‘well-being’—appears to have driven this strong engagement. Parents reported satisfaction with and acceptability of the toy. CONCLUSIONS This is the first known study investigation of the use of object-enabled intervention delivery to support emotion regulation in-situ. The strong engagement and qualitative indications of effects are promising – children were able to use the prototype without any training and incorporated it into their emotion regulation practices during daily challenges. Future work is needed to extend this indicative data with efficacy studies examining the psychological efficacy of the proposed intervention. More broadly, our findings suggest the potential of a technology-enabled shift in how prevention interventions are designed and delivered: empowering children and parents through ‘child-led, situated interventions’, where participants learn through actionable support directly within family life, as opposed to didactic in-person workshops and a subsequent skills application.

scholarly journals Feasibility study of technology-enabled prevention intervention for children and families

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Slovak
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Object A ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Children And Parents ◽  
Prevention Interventions ◽  
Regulatory Effects ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Uk

Although digital technology has the potential to address the challenges of access, engagement, and scalability that psycho-social prevention interventions face when trying to reach families of primary school children, existing research on technology-enabled interventions for families remains limited. The aim of this qualitative pilot study was to investigate the engagement, acceptability, and initial subjective indicators of emotion regulatory effects during 1-week in-situ deployments of a low-cost, bespoke prototype, which has been designed to support children's in-the-moment emotion regulation. This prototype instantiates a novel intervention model that aims to address the existing limitations by delivering the intervention through an interactive object (a `smart toy') sent home with the child, without any prior training necessary for either the child or their carer. Ten families (altogether 11 children aged 6-10 years) were recruited from three underprivileged communities in the UK, and children were given the toy to keep at home for 7-8 days, after which we interviewed each child and their parent about their experience with the toy. Across all 10 families, participants reported that the toy was incorporated into children's emotion regulation practices and engaged with naturally in moments children wanted to relax or calm down. The data suggest acceptability of the toy from both parents and children, strong engagement and indications of emotion-regulatory effects. More broadly, our findings suggest the potential of a technology-enabled shift in how prevention interventions are designed and delivered: empowering children and parents through `child-led, situated interventions', where participants learn through actionable support directly within family life, as opposed to didactic in-person workshops and a subsequent skills application.

scholarly journals An In-situ, Child-led Intervention To Promote Emotion Regulation Competence in Middle Childhood: Protocol For an Exploratory Randomised Control Trial (Preprint)

10.2196/28914 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Slovak ◽  
Brett Q. Ford ◽  
Sherri Widen ◽  
Claudia Daudén Roquet ◽  
Nikki Theofanopoulou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Randomised Control Trial

An In-situ, Child-led Intervention To Promote Emotion Regulation Competence in Middle Childhood: Protocol For an Exploratory Randomised Control Trial (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Slovak ◽  
Brett Q. Ford ◽  
Sherri Widen ◽  
Claudia Daudén Roquet ◽  
Nikki Theofanopoulou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Haptic Feedback ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Child Outcomes ◽  
Randomised Control Trial ◽  
Intervention Model ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Prevention And Treatment

BACKGROUND Emotion regulation is a key transdiagnostic risk factor for a range of psychopathologies, making it a prime target for both prevention and treatment interventions in childhood. Existing interventions predominantly rely on workshop or in-person therapy-based approaches, limiting the ability to promote emotion regulation competence for children in everyday settings and at scale. Purrble is a newly developed, inexpensive socially assistive robot—in the form of an interactive plush toy—which uses haptic feedback to support in-the-moment emotion regulation. It is accessible to children as needed in their daily lives, without the requirement for a priori training. While qualitative data from prior studies show high engagement in-situ and anecdotal evidence of the robot being incorporated into children’s emotion regulation routines, there is so far no quantitative evidence of the intervention’s impact on child outcomes. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to examine, for the first time, the efficacy of a new intervention model for child-led emotion regulation—Purrble—that could be deployed across prevention and treatment contexts. METHODS A total of 120 children aged 8-10 will be selected from an `enriched’ non-clinical US population: for inclusion, the cutoff for parent’s rating of child dysregulation will be 10 points or higher on the total difficulties score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. This cutoff selects for a measurable—but not necessarily clinical—level of the child’s emotion regulatory difficulties. The selected families will be randomly assigned with .5 probability to receive either Purrble or an active control (non-interactive plush toy). The primary outcome will be a daily EMA measure of child emotion regulation capability (as reported by parents) over a period of 4 weeks. Exploratory analyses will investigate the intervention impact on secondary outcomes of child emotion regulation, collected weekly over the same 4 week period, with follow-ups at 1 month and 6 months post-deployment. Quantitative data will be analysed on an intent-to-treat basis. A proportion of families (~30% of the sample) will be interviewed post deployment as part of process analysis. RESULTS The study is funded by UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/T041897/1) and an in-kind contribution from Committee for Children. It received ethical approval from the Pearl IRB (#18-CFC-101). Participant recruitment will start in February 2021, with the 1 month deployment expected in April - May 2021. The results of the analysis will be published in 2021. CONCLUSIONS The study will be the first quantitative evaluation of the efficacy of an innovative, proof-of-concept intervention model for an in-situ, child-led emotion regulation intervention. The insights into the trajectory of daily changes, complemented with weekly questionnaire batteries and post-deployment interviews will result in an in-depth understanding of whether, and how the hypothesised intervention logic model works, leading to further intervention optimisation.

scholarly journals Brain Health: Attitudes towards Technology Adoption in Older Adults

Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Nadir G. Abdelrahman ◽  
Raza Haque ◽  
Molly E. Polverento ◽  
Andrea Wendling ◽  
Courtney M. Goetz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Handheld Devices ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Health Related

(1) Background: There is increasing scholarly support for the notion that properly implemented and used, technology can be of substantial benefit for older adults. Use of technology has been associated with improved self-rating of health and fewer chronic conditions. Use of technology such as handheld devices by older adults has the potential to improve engagement and promote cognitive and physical health. However, although, literature suggests some willingness by older adults to use technology, simultaneously there are reports of a more cautious attitude to its adoption. Our objective was to determine the opinions towards information technologies, with special reference to brain health, in healthy older adults either fully retired or still working in some capacity including older adult workers and retired adults living in an independent elderly living community. We were especially interested in further our understanding of factors that may play a role in technology adoption and its relevance to addressing health related issues in this population; (2) Methods: Two focus groups were conducted in an inner-city community. Participants were older adults with an interest in their general health and prevention of cognitive decline. They were asked to discuss their perceptions of and preferences for the use of technology. Transcripts were coded for thematic analysis; (3) Results: Seven common themes emerged from the focus group interviews: physical health, cognitive health, social engagement, organizing information, desire to learn new technology, advancing technology, and privacy/security; and (4) Conclusions: This study suggests that in order to promote the use of technology in older adults, one needs to consider wider contextual issues, not only device design per se, but the older adult’s rationale for using technology and their socio-ecological context.

scholarly journals Psychosexual history-taking in the 21st century: new terminology, new technology and new risks

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-176
Author(s):  
Lisa Gardiner
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Relationship Maintenance ◽  
The Internet ◽  
List Type ◽  
History Taking ◽  
Sexual Behaviours ◽  
Use Of Technology

SUMMARYSexual and relationships difficulties are not uncommon among psychiatric patients. A presenting complaint of anxiety or depression may relate to an underlying sexual or relationship difficulty; commonly used psychotropic medications cause sexual side-effects that can have a significant impact quality of life, relationship maintenance and treatment adherence; patients may exhibit unusual or excessive sexual behaviours when acutely unwell, including risky use of apps to meet sexual partners and accessing online pornography in unsafe ways; patients may have used technology such as the internet to harm others or they may be victims of such harm; the internet and social media might even be influencing sexual expression, for example gender identity. Therefore, psychosexual history-taking remains a key competency for psychiatrists. They must also understand the new language used to describe sexuality, sexual behaviours and the use of social media, apps and so on to form relationships. This article outlines the key areas to consider in carrying out a structured psychosexual assessment. It also gives an overview of current sexual terminology, observed influences of the internet on sexuality and sexual behaviour, and its implications for mental health and potential sexual offending.LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this article you will be able to: •outline a framework for psychosexual history-taking•recognise emerging terminology relating to sexual behaviours and identity•understand the relevance of the internet, social media and technology-based apps to human relationships, including the use of technology in sexual offendingDECLARATION OF INTERESTNone.

scholarly journals Antecedents and Moderation Effects of Maladaptive Coping Behaviors Among German University Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Marie Mülder ◽  
Nicole Deci ◽  
Antonia Maria Werner ◽  
Jennifer L. Reichel ◽  
Ana Nanette Tibubos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
University Students ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Coping Behaviors ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Moderation Effects ◽  
The Relationship

Prolonging working hours and presenteeism have been conceptualized as self-endangering coping behaviors in employees, which are related to health impairment. Drawing upon the self-regulation of behavior model, the goal achievement process, and Warr's vitamin model, we examined the antecedents and moderation effects regarding quantitative demands, autonomy, emotion regulation, and self-motivation competence of university students' self-endangering coping behaviors (showing prolonging working hours and presenteeism). Results from a cross-sectional survey of 3,546 German university students indicate that quantitative demands are positively related and autonomy has a u-shape connection with self-endangering coping. Emotion regulation was shown to be a protective factor for prolonging working hours. Moreover, self-motivation moderated the relationship between quantitative demands and prolonging of working hours, but not in the assumed direction. Self-motivation showed a systematic positive relationship with prolonging of working hours, but no relationship with presenteeism. Autonomy moderated the relationship of quantitative demands with both self-endangering behaviors. We found no moderating effects for emotion regulation of quantitative demands or autonomy and self-endangering behaviors. Besides further practical implications, the results suggest that lecturers should design their courses accordingly with less time pressure and university students should be trained in the use of autonomy.

scholarly journals Capturing the many faces of an exploded star: communicating complex and evolving astronomical data

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (05) ◽  
pp. A02
Author(s):  
Lisa Smith ◽  
Kimberly Arcand ◽  
Randall Smith ◽  
Jay Bookbinder ◽  
Jeffrey Smith
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Object A ◽  
Cassiopeia A ◽  
The Public ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
The Face ◽  
Final Item ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Many

This study explored how different presentations of an object in deep space affect understanding, engagement, and aesthetic appreciation. A total of n = 2,502 respondents to an online survey were randomly assigned to one of 11 versions of Cassiopeia A, comprising 6 images and 5 videos ranging from 3s to approximately 1min. Participants responded to intial items regarding what the image looked like, the aesthetic appeal of the image, perceptions of understanding, and how much the participant wanted to learn more. After the image was identified, participants indicated the extent to which the label increased understanding and how well the image represented the object. A final item asked for questions about the image for an atronomer. Results suggest that alternative types of images can and should be used, provided they are accompanied by explanations. Qualitative data indicated that explanations should include information about colors used, size, scale, and location of the object. The results are discussed in terms of science communication to the public in the face of increasing use of technology.

In-Situ Steam Generation A New Technology Application for Heavy Oil Production

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayman R. Al-Nakhli ◽  
Luai A. Sukkar ◽  
James Arukhe ◽  
Abddulrahman Mulhem ◽  
Abdelaziz Mohannad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Oil ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Steam Generation ◽  
Technology Application

The Mediation of Family Context and Youth Depressive Symptoms by Adolescent Emotion Regulation

2022 ◽  
pp. 0044118X2110672
Author(s):  
Liva G. LaMontagne ◽  
David C. Diehl ◽  
Jennifer L. Doty ◽  
Sarah Smith
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Family Conflict ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Family Context ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Development Model ◽  
Emotional Context ◽  
Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

During adolescence, young people develop crucial capacity for emotion regulation, and family context can be a risk or protective factor for adolescents developing affective disorders. We leveraged data from the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey ( N = 7664) to propose adolescent emotion regulation as a mediator between family conflict, family protection, and adolescent depressive symptoms in the social development model. Latent moderated structural equation modeling revealed that adolescent regulation of negative emotions mediated the relationship between family conflict and depressive symptoms—adolescents with higher family conflict had more emotion regulation difficulties and more depressive symptoms. Adolescent age was a moderator such that associations between family protective factors and reduced depression, and between family conflict and emotion regulation difficulties were weaker in high school compared to middle school. Findings highlight the importance of youth emotion regulation processes and family emotional context in reducing adolescent depressive symptoms.

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