A gamified app for managing anxiety in children reduced symptom severity and helped them meet treatment goals, but didn't improve functional impairments, according to a study published in JMIR. 

The preliminary evaluation study was conducted through a collaboration with the app's creator. 

TOP-LINE DATA

Researchers found a small to moderate effect in anxiety symptom severity on parent-rated questionnaires, though no significant difference in overall anxiety or impairment.

Children noted they had moved closer to meeting their therapeutic goals over the time they had played the game. 

"Playing Lumi Nova was effective in reducing anxiety symptom severity over the 8-week period of game play (t29=2.79; P=.009; Cohen d=0.35) and making progress toward treatment goals (z=2.43; P=.02), but there were no improvements in relation to functional impairment. Children found it easy to play the game and engaged safely with therapeutic content. However, the positive effects were small, and there were limitations to the game play data," the study's authors wrote.

HOW IT WAS DONE

The study recruited 120 children between the ages of 7 and 12 who were identified by school staff as having issues with anxiety and not currently receiving treatment. Around 74 game keys were activated, and gameplay data was generated for 67 participants. Thirty guardians completed anxiety-outcome surveys.

Parents or guardians were asked to answer questionnaires before and after the treatment. Gameplay data was collected, and player ratings and open survey responses from parents were collected after the intervention.

The data was collected over a 10-week intervention between January and March 2020, with gameplay data being generated over around eight weeks of play.

BACKGROUND

Mental healthcare for children has become a rising concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. A CDC report from fall 2020 found that mental health-related emergency room visits for children and teens increased significantly during the early months of the pandemic.

But there are a variety of companies offering digital mental or behavioral health options in the pediatric space, with some providing video game-like approaches. Mightier, which makes a video game system to teach emotional regulation skills to children, raised $17 million in Series B funding in December. Akili Interactive makes an FDA-cleared video game therapeutic for kids with ADHD. It raised $160 million in Series D and debt financing in May. 

CONCLUSION

The researchers noted the study was small, with no control group, so it could benefit from follow-up with a larger sample. But in open survey responses parents generally attributed improvements to the game. 

The data collection period also overlapped with the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have affected the results. Gameplay data collection was only available when the internet was connected, so the researchers could have missed some information when children played offline. They also noted the final sample wasn't socio-demographically diverse.

"This small-scale evaluation study provides early evidence in support of the effectiveness, safety, and acceptability (user engagement and experience) of Lumi Nova, a coproduced and collaboratively developed self-help app delivering exposure-based CBT strategies via immersive technology. Further evaluation is recommended to support and extend these preliminary findings," the researchers wrote.