Cutting Edge Empirically Supported Interventions
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding Self-Control of Individuals
with Chronic Behavior Disorders through Computer Assisted Biofeedback
Dr. Ken Callis, Psychology Professor
Dr. Nancy Aguinaga, Asst. Professor, College of Education
Southeast Missouri State University
• Our study, investigated computer-assisted
biofeedback and relaxation techniques on
behavior change of adolescents with chronic
behavior disorders in a 32 bed facility
– Breathing techniques
– Visualization
– Visual feedback
– Opportunity for practice
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
Participants
• Diagnoses
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Bipolar disorder
Attention deficit disorder
Schizophrenia
Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Behaviors
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physical and verbal aggression
Impulsiveness
Withdrawal
Poor coping skills
Abnormal mood swings
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
Research Question
Does computer-assisted biofeedback
increase self-regulation of impulsive
behaviors?
(Decreasing incidents of aggression which
potentially lead to physical restraint and
seclusion, and thereby lower the risk of
injury to children and caregivers?
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
Treatment objectives
• Resident will be able to
– understand the impact of stress on the body
– learn to recognize stressful feelings and
individual “triggers”
– learn to use calming or relaxation strategies
when faced with challenging situations
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
HeartMath Research
• Different patterns of heart activity (which
accompany different emotional states) have
distinct effects on cognitive and emotional
function
• During stress and negative emotions, when the
heart rhythm pattern is erratic and disordered,
the corresponding pattern of neural signals
traveling from the heart to the brain inhibits
higher cognitive functions.
• Limited ability to think clearly, remember, learn,
reason, and make effective decisions.
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
www.heartmath.org
emWave PC
An easy-to-use software program with a
heart rhythm monitor. The system is an
innovative approach to stress relief based
on learning to change the heart rhythm
pattern and create physiological coherence.
http://vodpod.com/watch/3351204-emwave-stress-system?pod=naguinaga
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
Data collection
– Pre/post resident “locus of control” (Nowicki &
Strickland, 1973)
– Pre/post resident survey
– Pre/post staff survey and interviews
– rate of physical aggression, restraint,
seclusion, escort
– rate of time-out, both refocus chosen by
resident directed and staff directed
– Rate of coping-skill requested*
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
Results of Pilot Study
• Staff were asked to rate each individual in
the areas of; self-control skills, level of
physical aggression, level of verbal
aggression, mood stability skills, anger
management skills, and social skills.
– All participants improved in level of control for
physical aggression
– Three out four participants improved in level
of control for verbal aggression
– Two out of four 4 participants improved in all 6
measures.
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
Improvement in individual behavior
• All four residents demonstrated increased selfawareness by virtue of a higher number of
“refocus” events (self-selected removal from the
group as opposed to staff intervention).
• Specifically, all four increased self-awareness
significantly during the intervention phase by
39%, 83%, 100% and 133%.
• Three of the four sustained a higher level of selfawareness as shown by post-intervention
compared to pre-intervention.
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
Current Study
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17 Participants
4 therapists
Collecting post intervention data now
Initial staff interviews
– Resident generalized skill in family therapy
sessions
– Resident immediately went into heart
breathing in stressful situation
– Some were excited to continue, some were
anxious to stop
Aguinaga & Callis 2011
Project webpageProject web
page: http://cstl.semo.edu/secp/
Dr. Nancy Aguinaga: [email protected]
Dr. Ken Callis: [email protected]