Stepped-Care Digital Gaming Intervention Enhanced Emotion Recognition in Autistic Children: A Randomized Controlled...

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by social communication challenges.
• Impaired emotion recognition is a core deficit in autistic children.
• Digital interventions offer scalable solutions for ASD support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel stepped-care digital game for enhancing emotion recognition in autistic children.
• To assess the intervention's impact on core autistic traits and parenting stress.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 36 autistic children (3-10 years).
• Participants were assigned to a digital game intervention or a control group.
• Intervention utilized a Theory of Mind framework with hierarchically structured games.
• Emotion recognition and parenting stress were measured pre- and post-intervention.

Main Results:

• The experimental group demonstrated significant improvements in emotion recognition accuracy.
• The control group did not show similar gains in emotion recognition.
• The intervention group experienced stable parenting stress, while the control group's stress increased.
• Significant interactions were observed on the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC).

Conclusions:

• The stepped-care digital game intervention is effective in improving emotion recognition in autistic children.
• This intervention may positively impact autistic children's core traits.
• The digital game intervention shows potential for reducing parenting stress.