Brain News: Study revealed that due to the covid-19 pandemic children are going through a high level of anxiety. Here computerized cognitive training programs are likely to be helpful for children.
A recent study has revealed that remote forms of training programs, using computers, have shown ways to relieve negative emotions in children.
With the anxiety levels rising sharply in the United States, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America states that anxiety disorders affect 31.9% of children within the age bracket of 13 to 18 years. Moreover, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, children and adolescents have experienced unusual obstructions to their daily lives, resulting in mental illness, such as anxiety, depression, and/or stress-related symptoms.
When it comes to traditional anxiety and depression, the key treatment options include cognitive behavioral therapy and psychiatric medications. While these have somewhat shown positive results easing symptoms in adults, it has displayed mixed results in children. Therefore, finding the right channel for reducing childhood anxiety and depression, both affordable and accessible is predominant.
However, with the use of a computerized and completely remote training program, researchers have found a way to mitigate negative emotions in preadolescent children. They investigated the relationship between anxiety, inhibitory control, and resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) between the age group of 8 to 12 years old.
According to the results, computerized inhibitory training helps to decrease negative emotions in preadolescent children. EEG results also showed the frontal alpha asymmetry shifting to the left after children completed an emotional version of the training. At the baseline time point, further indication established the link between inhibitory control dysfunction and anxiety/depression.
Computerized cognitive training programs can be highly useful for children, not just for academics, but for psychological and emotional functioning as well.
To Know More, You May Refer To:
Nathaniel A. Shanok, Kelsey Meltzer, Colin Frank, Victoria Lugo, Nancy Aaron Jones. Computerized inhibitory control training reduces anxiety in preadolescent students. Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 2021; 1 DOI: 10.1080/21622965.2021.1884984
