Overview
Early adolescence is a key developmental period, in both the expansion of the Perception Box and engagement in health behaviors that can have lasting effects. Emotion regulation (ER) has a strong impact on these behaviors, including risk taking decisions and mental health. However, the perception that emotions are uncontrollable in response to situational cues often interferes with engagement of ER processes, which are fundamental to emotional well-being.
iTRAC is a four-module, digital intervention using activities, games, and videos to target ER development for early adolescents in three steps: 1) drawing the connection between feelings and behavior, 2) recognizing somatic cues that indicate unregulated emotions, and 3) teaching developmentally tailored strategies for managing emotions. By teaching ER in this way, an adolescent’s Perception Box is expected to expand by enhancing the belief that emotional experience can be changed. Indeed, pilot work has shown a moderate to large effect (d=.72) of iTRAC on beliefs that emotions are malleable.
The proposed project will conduct a randomized controlled trial of 200 12 to 14-year-olds to examine intervention impact on perceived malleability of emotions, emotion regulation (including respiratory sinus arrhythmia in response to a virtual reality risk scene), risk behaviors, and mental health over 18-month follow-up. The study is expected to inform strategies for using iTRAC, a cost-effective, digital intervention that has high potential for engaging young people and being disseminated widely.