Engage: mindful attention training to improve attention and reading abilities in children with language-based learning differences

INTERVENTION: This study employs a randomised crossover design with two groups (Groups 1 and 2) who are assessed at 3 timepoints over the school semester (T1, T2, and T3). Students are cluster randomized into Group 1 or 2. Specifically, four homerooms total (2 homerooms in each group) are randomized to either Group 1 or 2 prior to any data collection. All students are assessed with our outcome measures at baseline, the start of the semester (T1). Then, Group 1 completes the Engage training combined with Chartwell instruction while Group 2 participants serve as a waitlist control and receive school‐based instruction alone. After the first 7‐week training period, all students will be assessed using the outcome measures again (T2). The study then employs the crossover design, where Group 2 completes the Engage training combined with Chartwell instruction while Group 1 participates in school‐based instruction alone. Finally, all students are assessed for a final time at the end of the second 7‐week period (T3). The Engage intervention is a meditation‐inspired tablet‐based video game designed to improve sustained attention in children and adolescents. The game gradually progresses from a fast‐paced, rapid reward environment that is rich in visual and auditory stimuli, much like a traditional video game, to a slower reward environment (‘Engage Mode’) that is more sensory impoverished, much more like real‐world academic settings. During each session, participants start the game in the immersive environment and gain points as they respond to target stimuli and ignore distractors (i.e., bugs) based on auditory and visual features. When enough points are accumulated, participants enter the sparse environment (‘Engage Mode’), where they play with their eyes clo CONDITION: Language‐based learning differences ; Mental and Behavioural Disorders ; Developmental disorder of scholastic skills PRIMARY OUTCOME: Attention measured using computer‐based visual continuous performance tasks (CPTs) at baseline, 7, and 14 weeks INCLUSION CRITERIA: 7th and 8th‐grade students at the Chartwell School in Seaside CA SECONDARY OUTCOME: ; 1. Reading ability measured using the following at baseline, 7, and 14 weeks:; 1.1. Computerized test of reading fluency; 1.2. Sub‐test from the Woodcock‐Johnson (WCJ) battery; 1.3. Sub‐test from the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE); 1.4. Sub‐test from the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA); 2. Delay discounting and impulsivity measured using a computerized delay discounting test at baseline, 7, and 14 weeks; 3. Aspects of cognitive control measured using the computerized Adaptive Cognitive Evaluation (ACE) battery at baseline, 7, and 14 weeks; ; Exploratory outcome measures:; 1. Working memory abilities measured using the WISC forward and backward digit span at baseline, 7, and 14 weeks; 2. Math ability measured using a computerized test of math fluency at baseline, 7, and 14 weeks; 3. Self‐reported behaviors measured at baseline, 7, and 14 weeks:; 3.1. Attention measured by student self‐report using the Mindful Attention Awareness scale (MAAS); 3.2. Mental health measured by student self‐report using the Warwick‐Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale; 3.3. Sleep quality measured by student self‐report using the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI);