skip to main content
10.1145/3329189.3329237acmotherconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagespervasivehealthConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Using a Serious Game to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Authors Info & Claims
Published:20 May 2019Publication History

ABSTRACT

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterised by social interaction difficulties and communication difficulties. Moreover, children with ASD often suffer from other co-morbidities, such as anxiety and depression. Finding appropriate treatment can be difficult as symptoms of ASD and co-morbidities often overlap. Many applications for serious games in the health care sector already exist, but very little focus on stress and anxiety in children with ASD. This paper describes a preliminary study to assess whether a serious game can be used to reduce stress and anxiety in children with ASD. In close collaboration with specialised therapists, the New Horizon game was designed, which contains two relaxation techniques. During the pilot study, the New Horizon game has been tested by three participants.

References

  1. B. Abirached et al. 2011. Understanding User Needs for Serious Games for Teaching Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Emotions. In World Conference on Educational Media, Hypermedia, and Telecommunications (EDMEDIA) 2012. 1054--1063.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  2. American Psychiatric Association. 2013. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Association.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  3. Laura et al Bartoli. 2014. Designing and evaluating touchless playful interaction for ASD children. In Proceedings of the 2014 conference on Interaction design and children-IDC '14. 17--26. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  4. A. J. Baxter et al. 2015. The epidemiology and global burden of autism spectrum disorders. Psychological Medicine 45, 3 (feb 2015), 601--613.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  5. Judith S. Beck. 2011. Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond (2 ed.). The Guilford Press. 1--414 pages.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  6. Kathryn Bennett et al. 2016. Treating child and adolescent anxiety effectively: Overview of systematic reviews. (2016), 80--94 pages.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  7. Fran C. Blumberg et al. 2012. Serious Games: What Are They? What Do They Do? Why Should We Play Them? In The Oxford Handbook of Media Psychology. Oxford University Press, 334--351.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  8. Anne Marie Chalfant et al. 2006. Treating Anxiety Disorders in Children with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Controlled Trial. (2006).Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  9. Luca Chittaro and Riccardo Sioni. 2014. Evaluating mobile apps for breathing training: The effectiveness of visualization. Computers in Human Behavior 40 (nov 2014), 56--63. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  10. Christopher J. Ferguson and Cheryl K. Olson. 2013. Friends, fun, frustration and fantasy: Child motivations for video game play. Motivation and Emotion 37, 1 (mar 2013), 154--164.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  11. S Fletcher-Watson et al. 2016. Designing for young children with autism spectrum disorder: A case study of an iPad app. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction 7 (2016), 1--14. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  12. Isabela Granic et al. 2014. The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist 69, 1 (jan 2014), 66--78.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  13. Isabela Granic et al. 2014. The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist 69, 1 (2014), 66--78.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  14. Lieke Hassink-Franke et al. 2012. NHG-Standaard Angst | NHG. (2012).Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  15. Cédric Hufnagel et al. 2017. The need for objective measures of stress in autism. Frontiers in Psychology 8, JAN (2017), 8--11.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  16. Wendy Keay-Bright. 2007. Can computers create relaxation? Designing ReacTickles© software with children on the autistic spectrum. CoDesign 3, 2 (jun 2007), 97--110.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  17. Connor M. Kerns et al. 2015. Not to Be Overshadowed or Overlooked: Functional Impairments Associated With Comorbid Anxiety Disorders in Youth With ASD. Behavior Therapy 46, 1 (jan 2015), 29--39.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  18. Hindra Kurniawan et al. 2013. Stress detection from speech and galvanic skin response signals. In Proceedings of CBMS 2013 - 26th IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems. IEEE, 209--214.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  19. Ho Ming Lau et al. 2017. Serious games for mental health: Are they accessible, feasible, and effective? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry 7, JAN (2017).Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  20. Ovsanna T Leyfer et al. 2006. Comorbid psychiatric disorders in children with autism: Interview development and rates of disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 36, 7 (2006), 849--861.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  21. Jinhui Li et al. 2014. Game-Based Digital Interventions for Depression Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 17, 8 (2014), 519--527.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  22. Christian Sebastian Loh et al. 2015. Serious games analytics: Theoretical framework. In Serious Games Analytics: Methodologies for Performance Measurement, Assessment, and Improvement. Springer International Publishing, Cham, Chapter 1, 3--29.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  23. Catherine Lord et al. 2000. Autism Spectrum Disorders. Neuron 28 (2000), 355--363.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  24. Amanda Ludlow, Charlotte Skelly, and Poul Rohleder. 2012. Challenges faced by parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Health Psychology 17, 5 (jul 2012), 702--711.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  25. Bonnie M. MacNeil, Vicki A Lopes, and Patricia M Minnes. 2009. Anxiety in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders. (2009), 21 pages.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  26. Johnny L Matson, Jay W Bamburg, and Yemonja Smalls. 2004. An analysis of Snoezelen equipment to reinforce persons with severe or profound mental retardation. Research in Developmental Disabilities 25, 1 (jan 2004), 89--95.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  27. Laura Millen et al. 2010. The development of educational collaborative virtual environments for children with autism. 5th Cambridge Workshop on Universal Access and Assistive Technology (2010), 7.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  28. Brittany N Moree and Thompson E. Davis. 2010. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders: Modification trends. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 4, 3 (2010), 346--354.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  29. Peter Muris, Henk Schmidt, and Harald Merckelbach. 2000. Correlations among two self-report questionnaires for measuring DSM-defined anxiety disorder symptoms in children: the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale. Personality and Individual Differences 28, 2 (feb 2000), 333--346.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  30. Maaike H Nauta, Agnes Scholing, Ronald M Rapee, Maree Abbott, Susan H Spence, and Allison Waters. 2004. A parent-report measure of children's anxiety: Psychometric properties and comparison with child-report in a clinic and normal sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy 42, 7 (jul 2004), 813--839.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  31. Ann Ozsivadjian, Charlotte Hibberd, and Matthew J Hollocks. {n. d.}. Brief Report: The Use of Self-Report Measures in Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorder to Access Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression and Negative Thoughts. ({n. d.}). https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  32. Paul Pagliano. 1998. The Multi-Sensory Environment: An Open-Minded Space. British Journal of Visual Impairment 16, 3 (sep 1998), 105--109.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  33. Rakesh Patibanda et al. 2017. Life Tree: Understanding the Design of Breathing Exercise Games. Ph.D. Dissertation. New York, New York, USA.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  34. Judy Reaven. 2011. The treatment of anxiety symptoms in youth with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders: Developmental considerations for parents. (2011), 255--263 pages.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  35. Judith A Reaven. 2009. Children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders and co-occurring anxiety symptoms: implications for assessment and treatment. Journal for specialists in pediatric nursing: JSPN 14, 3 (2009), 192--199.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  36. Cecil R. Reynolds et al. 1978. What i think and feel: A revised measure of children's manifest anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 6, 2 (jun 1978), 271--280.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  37. Virginia Sandulescu et al. 2015. Stress detection using wearable physiological sensors. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), Vol. 9107. Springer, Cham, 526--532.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  38. C A Schniering and R M Rapee. 2002. Development and validation of a measure of children's automatic thoughts: the children's automatic thoughts scale. Behaviour research and therapy 40, 9 (sep 2002), 1091--109.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  39. A Scholing et al. 1999. Spence children's anxiety scale (Dutch translation of child version). (1999).Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  40. A Scholing et al. 1999. Spence children's anxiety scale (Dutch translation of parent version). (1999).Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  41. Elke A. Schoneveld et al. 2016. A neurofeedback video game (MindLight) to prevent anxiety in children: A randomized controlled trial. Computers in Human Behavior 63 (oct 2016), 321--333. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  42. Cara A. Settipani et al. 2012. Characteristics and anxiety symptom presentation associated with autism spectrum traits in youth with anxiety disorders. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 26, 3 (apr 2012), 459--467.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  43. Kate Sofronoff, Tony Attwood, and Sharon Hinton. 2005. A randomised controlled trial of a CBT intervention for anxiety in children with Asperger syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 46, 11 (nov 2005), 1152--1160.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  44. Susan H. Spence et al. 2003. Psychometric properties of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale with young adolescents. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 17, 6 (jan 2003), 605--625.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  45. John F Strang et al. 2012. Depression and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders without intellectual disability. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 6, 1 (2012), 406--412.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  46. Liza Varvogli and Christina Darviri. 2011. Stress management techniques: Evidence-based procedures that reduce stress and promote health. (2011), 74--89 pages.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  47. Susan W. White, Donald Oswald, Thomas Ollendick, and Lawrence Scahill. 2009. Anxiety in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. (apr 2009), 216--229 pages.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  48. Elisabeth M. Whyte, Joshua M. Smyth, and K. Suzanne Scherf. 2015. Designing Serious Game Interventions for Individuals with Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 45, 12 (dec 2015), 3820--3831.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  49. Lieke A. M. W. Wijnhoven et al. 2015. The effect of the video game Mindlight on anxiety symptoms in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. BMC Psychiatry 15, 1 (2015), 138.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref

Index Terms

  1. Using a Serious Game to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

      Recommendations

      Comments

      Login options

      Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

      Sign in
      • Published in

        cover image ACM Other conferences
        PervasiveHealth'19: Proceedings of the 13th EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare
        May 2019
        475 pages
        ISBN:9781450361262
        DOI:10.1145/3329189

        Copyright © 2019 ACM

        Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

        Publisher

        Association for Computing Machinery

        New York, NY, United States

        Publication History

        • Published: 20 May 2019

        Permissions

        Request permissions about this article.

        Request Permissions

        Check for updates

        Qualifiers

        • research-article
        • Research
        • Refereed limited

        Acceptance Rates

        Overall Acceptance Rate55of116submissions,47%

      PDF Format

      View or Download as a PDF file.

      PDF

      eReader

      View online with eReader.

      eReader