Are mobile neurofeedback games a feasible way to improve self-regulation of attention for young marginalized children?

Abstract

Interactive technology-mediated behavioral interventions are increasingly being studied with children at risk for attentional challenges. Few technology-mediated interventions have been designed for, or studied in the field with, marginalized children, who are at an elevated risk for attentional challenges. We adapted three existing neurofeedback games to create a proof-of-concept intervention to address this research gap. To investigate preliminary feasibility and efficacy we conducted a controlled field experiment with 28 children (aged 5 to 8, 22 male) from a disadvantaged community. Findings showed that with support all children were able to complete the intervention, and most were able to transfer newly attained attention regulation skills into everyday situations and maintain those skills over time. Our work serves as a proof-of-concept for this type of technology-mediated mental health intervention research, provides an exemplar of digital health research with hard-to-reach populations, and provides preliminary evidence that this research space warrants future attention.