A randomized controlled trial using a video game to reduce anxiety in children.

In this randomized controlled trial (RCT with 2 conditions, intervention and control group) the effectiveness of an anxiety-reducing training in the form of a video game (Mindlight) will be examined. Children (ages 8-12) with elevated levels of anxiety are randomly assigned to play a video game (either Mindlight or Max and the Magic Marker) 6 times for one hour after school. The aims are to evaluate the effectiveness and gain insight into the underlying mechanisms. Measurements of primary and secondary outcomes will be conducted in the intervention directly before and after the training and at 3 months follow up.

This study will use a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of the video game Mindlight, a newly developed anxiety-reducing training for children. Mindlight and a control game will be played for several sessions by Dutch primary school children (8–12 years old) with elevated levels of anxiety. It is hypothesized that children playing Mindlight will experience reduced levels of anxiety in comparison with the control group. Attentional bias will be examined as mediator of this effect, and children’s coping abilities and anxiety and stress level of parents will be included as moderators.

- Screening using SCAS-C
- Pre-test using all primary & secondary instruments (1 week before start intervention)
- Post-test using all primary & secondary instruments except demographics (1 week after training)
- Follow-up using all primary & secondary instruments (3 months after post-test).

Children will be randomly assigned in either the experimental or the control condition. Both conditions start with a pre-test where anxiety is measured via questionnaires and attentional bias via the dot-probe task and the visual search task. The parents will also fill out questionnaires this week.
The next weeks, the groups will play a video game for 50 minutes. The experimental condition plays Mindlight, while the control condition plays Max and the Magic Marker. This will be done for 3 weeks, 2 times a week at the school (after class).
After this training, the children will complete the same questionnaires and attentional bias measuring instruments as used in the pre-test. The parents will also receive questionnaires. 3 months later, a follow up test will use the same measurements again.