Mightier, Magellan Health Team Up for NIMH-Funded Research Project

Mightier, a Boston-based startup developer of a video game system that teaches children emotional regulation, announced that it has received a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to collaborate with Magellan Healthcare on a study of the impact of video games on improving children’s mental health.

The two-year research project will examine how the introduction of digital tools can increase access to care, improve outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs. Magellan plans to recruit 200 members of its commercial health plans who have various mental health conditions, including ADHD, anxiety, and oppositional defiant disorder. The Mightier software is used at home, as children wear a heartrate monitor that connects to the game. The game’s difficulty is linked to measured increases in heartrate, prompting children to develop strategies for exercising self-control through adversity.

This will be the second study collaboration between Mightier and Magellan. In 2020, the two organizations worked on a pilot program to measure the use of Mightier’s platform to support treatment of children with autism. Mightier said in a news release that it expects to release data from that pilot in the coming months.