Emotions, Technology, and Health

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• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780128017371
• eBook ISBN: 9780128018392
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Cognitive Psychology & Cognition
• Index: Psychology

Emotions, Technology, and Health examines how healthcare consumers interact with health technology, how this technology mediates interpersonal interactions, and the effectiveness of technology in gathering health-related information in various situations. The first section discusses the use of technology to monitor patients' emotional responses to illness and its treatment, as well as the role of technology in meeting the fundamental human need for information. Section Two describes the use of technology in mediating emotions within and between individuals, and addresses the implications for the design and use of devices that gather behavioral health data and contribute to healthcare interventions. The final section assesses different situations in which technology is a key component of the health intervention—such as tablet use in educating elementary school students with social skills difficulty, physical activity monitoring for children at risk for obesity, and teleconferencing for older adults at risk of social isolation.- Shows how information on the internet significantly affects the medical decision-making process for many consumers- Describes current applications of social computing and quick access to mental health information on portable electronic devices- Discusses how cyber-communication may both impair and enhance one's sense of humanity- Details the role of visual media in mediating emotion and memory of time

Section III

Technology in Clinical Treatment

Chapter 8

Technology Enhances Social-Emotional Intelligence in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Dorothy Lucci Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Lexington, MA, USA Massachusetts General Hospital for Children Lexington MA USA

Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have poor social-communication, odd behavioral patterns, and exhibit limited to superior cognition. Many have a narrow range of interests and sensory differences. High functioning children are described as quirky, socially awkward, hyper-verbal, or little professors. Typically they have strengths in visual-perceptual abilities and rote memory. This chapter explores how the narrow range of interests and strength in visual-perceptual processing is harnessed through technology, to address their social and emotional deficits. HeartMath’s emWave and Inner Balance app (a stress-management tool) in conjunction with SymTrend (web-based software) are utilized to convey the abstract world of physiological and mental states, and feelings. Individuals improved social-emotional intelligence, self-awareness, theory of mind, and stress management. This preliminary work shows promising results utilizing technology as a teaching tool for individuals diagnosed with ASD.

Keywords

Autism spectrum disorders

Social-emotional intelligence

Self-awareness

Social-awareness

Social thinking

Stress-management

Mental states

Perspective taking

Theory of mind

Introduction

The autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network (ADDM) of the Center of Disease Control and Prevention is a surveillance system in the United States that tracks the rate of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 8-year-old children across the population. Rates are representative of socioeconomic levels, race, sex, and ethnicity. In 2010, the overall prevalence rates of ASD in the general population of children 8 years of age were 1:68, with the rate for males at 1:42 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Growing rates of children diagnosed with ASD significantly impacts all aspects of our society including educational, medical, psychological, financial, vocational, and family relationships. With these ever-increasing rates, improvement of the overall well-being and quality of life (QoL) outcomes for individuals diagnosed with ASD is imperative (Burges & Gutstein, 2007). Schalock (1996, 2004) conducted a review of QoL research within the disability field and eight core domains emerged: self-determination, social inclusion, financial/material security, personal development, emotional well-being, meaningful interpersonal relationships, personal rights, and physical well-being. These are similar domains to QoL research in the general population. Meta-analysis research studies (Chiang & Wineman, 2014; van Heijst & Geurts, 2014) found that individuals with autism experience lower overall QoL when compared to their peers.

In the United States, symptom reduction is no longer the desired outcome in healthcare. Most recently preventing illness, improving level of functioning, and enhancing QoL are considered the new outcome measures (National Center for Health Statistics, 2012). Given this shift in focus, research in the fields of mind-body connection, neuroscience, and Positive Psychology is burgeoning. There is evidence of the efficacy of these treatments across physical and mental ailments including back pain, coronary heart disease, headaches, posttraumatic stress disorder, and disease-related symptoms of cancer, arthritis, and diabetes (Eisenberg et al., 1998; Grossman, Nieman, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004). Research supports the premise that persons who embody optimism and a resilient attitude, as well as maintain a healthy lifestyle, are more content with their lives and rate their QoL as high. These individuals report greater job satisfaction, better physical health, and more authentic personal relationships (Seligman, 2011). However, research conducted with individuals with physical disabilities, chronic medical conditions, and mental or psychiatric disorders indicate lower levels of overall QoL satisfaction or in specific areas of functioning (Sawyer, Whaites, & Ry, 2002). As a society we should be concerned about achieving higher QoL ratings for individuals with physical, mental, and psychiatric disorders, including individuals diagnosed with ASD. Adjusting the way we care for, educate, and relate to persons with ASD will help achieve these outcomes. When society presumes competence in individuals with ASD rather than first perceiving the disability, higher QoL outcomes will be prized and pursued.

There is much data to support that early intervention is at the core of better outcomes for persons with ASD. This is also true for persons without disabilities. Developing healthier living habits as well as a positive outlook and resilience when we are younger, and maintaining these traits throughout adulthood, leads to better life outcomes. This would be true for individuals diagnosed with ASD as well.

Diagnosis of ASD includes early onset in childhood with challenges in behavior, social skills, and communication (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 1994). In the recently released DSM-5, these three categories are collapsed into two categories: social-communication and behavior (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2014). These challenges are pervasive and diminish the overall QoL for individuals with ASD. Even though early intervention services greatly improve a child's development, they do not always equate with overall QoL outcomes. It appears that primary focus on discrete skill development in early intervention and educational approaches for children diagnosed with ASD may not enhance QoL. The National Autism Center Report (2009) indicated that of the “established treatments” or evidenced-based practices (EBPs) randomized controlled trial/RCT studies for autism, two-thirds were developed from the behavioral literature. These EBPs focused on discrete skill acquisition or reduction, not on more global functioning. Their criteria for an established treatment excluded many other research methodologies that are not considered the goldstandard of research design; however, many of these other design methods are used in studying individuals with ASD. More recently Wong et al. (2014), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, published a new report for EBPs for individuals with ASD. This report utilized a broader inclusion criteria of EBPs such as RCT, quasi-experimental design or regression discontinuity designs, and single-case design studies that employed within subject design comparing responses of an individual experiencing differing conditions. The report allowed for greater numbers of treatment option studies considered lesser treatment options in the first report due to their research design methods. This report highlights “comprehensive treatment models” (CTMs) that address the whole person not singularly “focused-intervention practices” (FIPs) that address a discrete skill or goal. Odom, Boyd, Hall, and Hume (2014) identified 30 CTMs operating in the United States, such as Early Start Denver Model (Rogers, Hall, Osaki, Reaven, & Herbison, 2000), SCERTS (Prizant, Wetherby, Rubin, & Laurent, 2003), Floortime (Greenspan & Wieder, 2003), and Relationship Development Intervention (Gutstein, Baird, & Gutstein, 2009) among others that focus on a set of practices designed to address multiple global outcomes including communication, behavior, and social competence. Since all individuals with ASD demonstrate to varying levels, challenges in social competency, communication, and behavior, it is imperative to address all of these domains in treatment. In many of the CTMs, individuals with ASD demonstrated improved overall outcomes in these areas.

Some of the “emerging and unestablished treatments” mentioned in the NAC report represent the mind-body, strengths-based research that was included as EBPs in the Wong et al. (2014) report including naturalistic interventions, self-management, social narratives, and cognitive-behavioral intervention among others. Mind-body treatments, social-emotional intelligence (SEI), and Positive Psychology are experiencing an upsurge of usage in the field of autism and showing promising results (Cosden, Koegel, Koegel, Greenwell, & Klein, 2006; Groden, Kantor, Woodard, & Lipsitt, 2011; Suskind, 2014). These approaches focus on the whole person and on an individual's subjective experience, impression, and interpretati...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Section I: Telehealthcare Systems and Patient Interactions
• Section II: Uses of Technology to Promote Emotional Health
• Section III: Technology in Clinical Treatment
• Index