Tech-Based Therapy for Social and Emotion Regulation
With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting access to therapy and technology use on the rise, there has been a growing need to identify treatments that are more accessible, and flexible to improve learning outcomes
This self-guided study evaluates the efficacy of tech-based systems for social and emotional regulation of children with Autism
Mentored By
William Tsai, Ph.D.
will.tsai@nyu.edu
Problem
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience delayed functioning in facial-emotional recognition which may lead to difficulties maintaining social communication and emotion regulation processes
Emotion Regulation (ER) is the process of effectively managing and modifying the expression or experience of emotions
Facial expression recognition (FER) plays a vital role in providing critical nonverbal cues; deficits in FER can limit an individual’s ability to network with others, which negatively impacts health and quality of life
With the pandemic limiting access to in-person therapy, more studies are examining the use of computer-based interventions to teach social skills and affective cues through robotic systems
With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting in-person therapy, I wondered if tech- and computer-based therapies could be a functional replacement. I sought to determine if tech systems could mimic, or perhaps supersede in-person therapy due to the agency it gives the user
Methods
A meta-analysis was conducted to get a landscape analysis of the problem space and to contextualize initial research findings
Keywords were used to identify relevant articles: autism, emotion, affect recognition, emotion recognition, facial expression, computer-assisted, intervention therapy, efficacy, and teaching
I Identified various tech interventions, their application, efficacy, and feedback from users, and compared their overall acceptance to traditional therapies
Article selection was restricted to those published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2021
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
This is a frame of the first four levels depicting fear in a scaffolded emotion-recognition therapy system in Facial Emotion Expression Training (FEET)
I hypothesized that:
1. Children with ASD would rate computer-assisted therapy as the more feasible and efficient intervention
2. Individuals with ASD who receive tech-based therapies will close the gap in terms of overall social and behavioral development
In the meta-analysis, I assessed the quality, use, application, and general reception of tech intervention in comparison to in-person therapy
Results
The use of technological advancements provides a comfortable environment that effectively promotes learning
Children who experienced prolonged use of computer-based interventions had higher academic performance and greater memorization ability
Some had a decrease in self-stimulatory behaviors with an increase in social-emotional functioning
Animation, sound, and interface in tech were more effective in reinforcing skills and maintaining motivation
May be used as a supplementary intervention to existing methods of behavioral development
Discussion
Technology interventions for improving facial recognition and behavior appear to be acceptable for children with ASD
Results provide support for the continuing development and clinical usage of technology-based intervention
Tech-based intervention may serve as an alternative to direct face-to-face intervention for tackling difficulties in emotion recognition through facial expression
Integrating tech-based therapy can lead to better health processes necessary to ensure more positive psychological adjustment of individuals with ASD
This would result in them not being ostracized for their behavior but rather, seamlessly blending into our more technologically advanced society