Candidate socioemotional remediation program for individuals with intellectual disability

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Neurodevelopment
• Cognitive Rehabilitation
• Child Psychology

Background:

• Children with developmental disabilities often exhibit socioemotional and working memory deficits.
• Targeted interventions are crucial for improving daily functioning and quality of life in these populations.
• Existing therapeutic tools may have limitations for hard-to-treat pediatric groups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce Vis-à-Vis (VAV), a novel computerized program designed to enhance socioemotional functioning and working memory.
• To evaluate the efficacy of VAV in children diagnosed with idiopathic developmental delay.
• To assess the short-term and long-term effects of VAV training on targeted cognitive and emotional skills.

Main Methods:

• A computerized program, Vis-à-Vis (VAV), comprising three modules: Focus on the Eyes, Emotion Recognition and Understanding, and Working Memory.
• Ten children with idiopathic developmental delay participated in 12 weeks of VAV training (four 20-min sessions/week).
• Assessments were conducted pre-training (Time 0), post-training (Time 1), and 6 months post-intervention (Time 2).

Main Results:

• Participants demonstrated significant improvements across all three VAV modules during the training period.
• Post-VAV assessments revealed enhanced emotion recognition and nonverbal reasoning skills.
• These cognitive and emotional gains were sustained at the 6-month follow-up evaluation (Time 2).

Conclusions:

• Vis-à-Vis (VAV) shows promise as an effective intervention tool for addressing socioemotional impairments.
• The program demonstrates potential benefits for children with developmental disabilities, particularly in hard-to-treat populations.
• Sustained improvements suggest VAV's lasting impact on cognitive and emotional development.