ProVIA-Kids - outcomes of an uncontrolled study on smartphone-based behaviour analysis for challenging behaviour in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities or autism spectrum disorder

Rinat Meerson; Hanna Buchholz; Klaus Kammerer; Manuel Göster; Johannes Schobel; Christoph Ratz; Rüdiger Pryss; Regina Taurines; Marcel Romanos; Matthias Gamer; Julia Geissler

doi:10.3389/fdgth.2024.1462682

ProVIA-Kids - outcomes of an uncontrolled study on smartphone-based behaviour analysis for challenging behaviour in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities or autism spectrum disorder

Front Digit Health. 2024 Sep 13:6:1462682. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2024.1462682. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Rinat Meerson^{1

2}, Hanna Buchholz¹, Klaus Kammerer³, Manuel Göster³, Johannes Schobel⁴, Christoph Ratz^{5

6}, Rüdiger Pryss³, Regina Taurines¹, Marcel Romanos^{1

6}, Matthias Gamer⁷, Julia Geissler^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Center of Mental Health, University Hospital of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.
² Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
³ Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry (IKEB), University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.
⁴ DigiHealth Institute, Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences, Neu-Ulm, Germany.
⁵ Chair of Special Education IV-Education for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.
⁶ German Centre of Prevention Research in Mental Health, University and University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.
⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.

Abstract

Introduction: Challenging behaviour (CB) is a common issue among children with autism spectrum disorder or intellectual and developmental disability. Mental health applications are low-threshold cost-effective tools to address the lack of resources for caregivers. This pre-post study evaluated the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the smartphone app ProVIA-Kids using algorithm-based behaviour analysis to identify causes of CB and provide individualized practical guidance to manage and prevent CB.

Methods: A total of 18 caregivers (M = 38.9 ± 5.0) of children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (44%), intellectual and developmental disabilities (33%) or both (22%) aged 4-11 years (M = 7.6 ± 1.8) were included. Assessments were performed before and after an 8-week intervention period. The primary outcome was the change in parental stress. Caregiver stress experience due to CB was also rated daily via ecological momentary assessments within the app. Secondary outcomes included the intensity of the child's CB, dysfunctional parenting, feelings of parental competency as well as caregivers' mood (rated daily in the app) and feedback on the app collected via the Mobile Application Rating Scale.

Results: We observed increases in parental stress in terms of conscious feelings of incompetence. However, we also saw improvements in parental stress experience due to CB and overreactive parenting, and descriptive improvements in CB intensity and caregiver mood.

Discussion: ProVIA-Kids pioneers behaviour analysis in a digital and automated format, with participants reporting high acceptance. Pilot results highlight the potential of the ProVIA-Kids app to positively influence child behaviour and caregiver mental health over a longer intervention period.

Registration: The study was registered at https://www.drks.de (ID = DRKS00029039) on May 31, 2022.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; behaviour analysis; challenging behaviour; cognitive behaviour therapy; intellectual and development disabilities; mental health application; parent training; parental stress.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The ProVIA trial was funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Affairs. This grant provided the financial means for study coordination, development of the intervention and programming of the smartphone application. The funding source had no role in the trial design of this study and will play no role in its execution, analyses and interpretation of the data, or the decision to publish results.