Leveling Up Emotional Skills: How Mightier and Biofeedback Apps Help Kids Manage Anger

By Harsimar Kang, Contributing Author

Image source: Mightier

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In a time when parents worry about increasing child screen time, do you ever wonder if this screen addiction could be utilized for good? That’s the model behind one video-game based app called Mightier, designed to assist children with emotional regulation. The application was originally developed a decade prior through partnership with Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital as a medium through which children could practice skills to identify emotions and decrease their anxiety. Several NIH-funded studies later, the evidence-backed Mightier was born. This is an opportunity outside of therapy to practice ways to reduce outbursts and oppositional behavior from kids. 

The gameplay works though biofeedback, which is a mind-body technique designed to control bodily functions, such as one’s heart rate, breathing patterns, and muscle responses. During biofeedback, people are typically connected to electrical pads that allow them to view information about the body and then respond to change their bodily response. Giving a more specific example using Mightier, kids wear a heart rate monitor on their arm while playing. Once the app senses that the player’s heart rate is beginning to increase, the screen flashes red, and the game interestingly becomes harder instead of easier. This forces a kid to rely on methods they have learned to calm themselves and thus, their heart rates, down so that gameplay returns back to normal. 

Image source: Mightier

One specific example of a game includes RAGE-Control (Regulate and Gain Emotional Control) where players shoot asteroids while avoiding friendly craft. To validate this game, a randomized control study was conducted where 40 children ages 10 to 17 with behavioral concerns were enrolled. All received a therapeutic intervention called Anger Control Training and then would play the game. Half of the cohort, chosen at random, would play the game with the biofeedback technology while the other half would not. After ten sessions, results demonstrated by parents and clinicians indicated that the biofeedback group had significantly decreased anger severity, aggression, and oppositional behavior. They even were able to show a direct linear relationship where the greater the decrease in heart rate, the more the children’s behaviors improved. 

Other laboratories throughout the nation are developing more current research. At Texas A&M’s Perception, Sensing, and Instrumentation Lab (PSI) lab, there is an entire group studying Biofeedback Games. Instead of heart rate, their studies have analyzed the use of deep breathing skills and electrodermal conductance. Furthermore, some companies are also getting into this biofeedback space. And while not medically accredited, games like Nevermind offer older children and adults a chance to play a darker adventure thriller game. 

The premise behind Mightier and these other biofeedback apps is a sort-of psychological conditioning, where Mightier forces kids to use calming methods immediately in times and stress, with the immediate reward of improving their game experience. Over time, this type of conditioning becomes instinctive — kids start recognizing and controlling their emotional and physiological responses, even when they’re not playing. This is similar to how, through repeated practice, a musician might intuitively find the right rhythm or how a student might memorize a new skill.

For families that live in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Children’s Long-Term Support Program utilizes Medicaid funding to pay for the application. This program was first introduced in 2022 and families who qualify for Medicaid can receive funding to pay for the Mightier app as well as cover the monthly subscription fee. These families can also use Medicaid waivers to fund other services for kids with disabilities, with the aim of keeping kids at home. However, it is important to note that there may be a Parental Payment charge for participation with this waiver. Families may also want to look into the TEFRA Katie Beckett program for further information about supporting their child with any type of disability, including medical, developmental, intellectual, or psychiatric. Kid’s Waiver offers great information that is specific to Wisconsin, along with side-by-side comparisons of other states. 

So the next time your heart races when playing a video game, think about how you might use biofeedback, and all those years of therapeutic calming skills, to win the game.

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References

Adams, K., & Alvarado, J. (2022, August 25). In one state, a video gaming app for kids’ well-being is now covered by Medicaid - Marketplace. Marketplace; Minnesota Public Radio. https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-tech/in-one-state-a-video-gaming-app-for-kids-well-being-is-now-covered-by-medicaid/

Biofeedback. (2023, March 18). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/biofeedback/about/pac-20384664

Biofeedback games – PSI Lab. (n.d.). PSI Lab – Department of Computer Science and Engineering; Texas A&M University. Retrieved November 5, 2024, from https://psi.engr.tamu.edu/portfolio/biofeedback-games/

Schwabe, A. (2022, September 20). Mightier app uses video games to help kids’ mental health. Journal Sentinel; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/wisconsin-family/2022/09/20/mightier-app-uses-video-games-help-kids-mental-health/8015367001/

Tripp, B. (2021, October 5). Video Game With Biofeedback Helps Kids and Teens Regulate Stress and Anger - Neuroscience News. Neuroscience News. https://neurosciencenews.com/gaming-biofeedback-stress-19419/