Using a Videogame Intervention to Reduce Anxiety and Externalizing Problems among Youths in Residential Care: an Initial Randomized Controlled Trial

Residential care is among the most intensive forms of treatment in youth care. It serves youths with severe behavioral problems and is primarily focused on targeting externalizing problems. Despite best efforts, effect sizes remain moderate, which may be due to the disregarding of internalizing symptoms – in particular anxiety - and to limitations regarding the delivery model of interventions. This initial randomized controlled trial (n?=?37) aimed to examine the effectiveness of a biofeedback videogame intervention (Dojo) as an addition to treatment as usual for youths with and without intellectual disability (ID) in residential care with clinical levels of anxiety and externalizing problems. Dojo targets both anxiety and externalizing problems, and incorporates the principles of conventional treatment, while addressing its limitations. Youths were randomly assigned to play Dojo (eight 30-min gameplay sessions) or to treatment as usual (TAU). Measurements of anxiety and externalizing problems were conducted at baseline, posttreatment, and 4-months follow-up through youths’ self-report and mentor-report. Completers-only analyses revealed decreases in self-reported anxiety and externalizing problems, and mentor-reported anxiety at posttreatment for participants in the Dojo condition compared to the control condition. Only mentor-reported anxiety was maintained at follow-up. No effect was found for mentor-reported externalizing problems. These findings provided preliminary evidence that Dojo is a promising, innovative intervention that engages high-risk youths. Practical implications are discussed.     

Increased body satisfaction after exposure to thin ideal children's television in young girls showing thin ideal internalisation

This study tested the direct effect of watching thin ideal children's television on body satisfaction in preadolescent girls (6-8 years old). A within-subject design was used in which girls (N?=?51) were tested three times. They watched television clips in random order containing either (1) thin ideal animated characters or (2) animated characters with no thin ideal features or (3) 'real' human actors with no thin ideal features. After watching, their state body satisfaction was measured. Girls with higher levels of thin ideal internalisation showed higher body satisfaction after exposure to the thin ideal characters than after exposure to animated or real characters featuring no thin ideal features. No differences on body satisfaction between the exposure conditions were found in girls with lower levels of thin ideal internalisation. The results might suggest that young girls who internalised the thin ideal are inspired by thin ideal characters in children's media.     

Friendship Context Matters: Examining the Domain Specificity of Alcohol and Depression Socialization Among Adolescents

Driven by existing socialization theories, this study describes specific friendship contexts in which peer influence of alcohol misuse and depressive symptoms occurs. In the fall and spring of the school year, surveys were administered to 704 Italian adolescents (53?% male, M (age)?=?15.53) enrolled in Grades 9, 10 and 11. Different friendship contexts were distinguished based on two dimensions referring to the level (i.e., best friendships and friendship networks) and reciprocity (i.e., unilateral and reciprocal) of the relationships. Social network and dyadic analyses were applied in a complementary manner to estimate peer socialization effects across the different friendship contexts. Results showed that within friendship networks both male and female adolescents' alcohol misuse was affected by friends' alcohol misuse, regardless of whether the relationship was reciprocated or not. Conversely, peer socialization of depressive symptoms only emerged within very best friendship dyads of female adolescents. Findings suggest that the effects of peer socialization depend on the friendship context and specific types of behaviors. The theoretical and methodological implications of the findings are discussed.     

Early adolescent empathy, parental support, and antisocial behavior

In this two-wave prospective study, the authors investigated whether level of dispositional affective empathy moderated the association between parental support and antisocial behavior in early adolescents. The sample consisted of 823 Dutch boys and girls (mean age = 12.8 years) enrolled in the first year of secondary education. Higher levels of affective empathy were associated with less delinquent and aggressive behavior. Contrary to expectations, structural equation modeling did not indicate that youth with higher levels of affective empathy were susceptible to parental support. Further analyses showed that gender moderated the association between parental support and future delinquent and aggressive behavior. Only for girls, were high levels of parental support associated with lower levels of antisocial behavior.