Effectiveness of a transdiagnostic computerized self-applied program targeting children with emotional problems: A...

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Digital Health Interventions

Background:

• Super Skills for Life (SSL) is an established eight-session cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program for indicated prevention of childhood emotional problems.
• The program has demonstrated positive short- and long-term outcomes in face-to-face implementations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a self-applied computerized adaptation of the SSL program.
• To assess if the digital SSL program maintains the objectives and content of the original face-to-face intervention.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 75 children (aged 8-12) with emotional symptoms.
• Participants were assigned to either a computerized SSL intervention group (n=35) or a waiting list control (WLC) group (n=40).
• Data collected via self-reports and parent reports pre- and post-intervention.

Main Results:

• The intervention group showed significant short-term reductions in anxiety, depression, emotional symptoms, and internalizing problems, based on parent reports.
• Self-reported data corroborated these findings, with notable effects on anxiety.
• Positive impacts were also observed on externalizing problems and general difficulties.

Conclusions:

• The self-applied computerized SSL program is a promising tool for the indicated prevention of childhood emotional problems.
• The findings support the use of this digital intervention within a multi-informant approach.
• Further research should address limitations such as sample size and follow-up assessments.