A new partnership between Dartmouth College’s play2PREVENT Lab and the non-profit Proof Positive is using video games to address growing mental health challenges among autistic youth. Backed by a $755,000 grant, the initiative will develop digital tools that build emotional strength, social confidence, and coping skills.
The play2PREVENT (p2P) Lab at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine will lead the two-year project, funded by Proof Positive, an organisation dedicated to promoting the well-being of the autism community. The effort comes as mental health issues affect up to 70% of children with autism, according to the Centre for Young People’s Mental Health.
The collaboration builds on research showing that gamified mental health interventions can improve emotional outcomes for young people. A 2024 Johns Hopkins Medicine review found that digital mental health games produced modest but meaningful benefits for anxiety, depression, and ADHD in children and teenagers, with effect sizes up to 0.28 for depression. Structured, time-limited sessions, often computer-based, were especially effective among boys. Such evidence supports the idea that play-based approaches can complement traditional therapies at a time of soaring demand for autism-related support in the UK.
“We’re both grounded in science and focused on empowering young people through positive psychology,” said Lynn Fiellin, MD, founder and director of the p2P Lab and professor of biomedical data science at Geisel. “Proof Positive brings a robust curriculum around gratitude, stress management, and optimism. And we saw a real opportunity to embed those elements into gameplay built with youth, for youth.”
Founded in 2009, the p2P Lab has spent over 15 years designing and testing video games that address adolescent health behaviours. The new grant will fund research staff, curriculum development, community engagement, and evaluation of the games’ effectiveness.
Positive psychology has shown particular promise for autistic individuals. Interventions centred on optimism, resilience, and social support can improve quality of life and reduce anxiety, which affects a significant number of autistic people. By emphasising human strengths rather than deficits, these methods build self-efficacy and reduce isolation; benefits that interactive games can enhance.
To ensure cultural and developmental relevance, Fiellin’s team and Proof Positive will work directly with autistic youth, families, and educators. The games will include both short activities and longer narratives, integrating positive psychology practices such as gratitude reflection and emotion regulation.
Proof Positive, founded in 2022 by Christina Kirby and Josh Kulkin, was inspired by their son Dylan, whose well-being improved through a blend of autism interventions and positive psychology principles. Motivated by this experience, they launched the organisation to make similar tools more widely available.
“Our mission is to spread the science and skills of happiness,” said Katie Curran, MAPP, chief wellbeing officer at Proof Positive. “Proof Positive believes that everyone, autistic individuals included, deserves the skills and support to flourish. This partnership allows us to meet youth where they are, using play as a powerful way to teach and practise the habits that strengthen mental health and wellbeing.”
Curran added that the partnership will explore uncharted territory between two fields. “There’s a lot of research on autism intervention and a lot on positive psychology, but not much at the intersection,” she said. “That’s where we see the opportunity. We’re not saying these games will improve well-being. We’re studying whether they can. This collaboration gives us the structure to ask the right questions and follow the data wherever it leads.”
In the UK, where mental health services are under strain, 80% of child and adolescent referrals in some regions are linked to autism, according to a 2024 Guardian report. The National Autistic Society has also found that autistic youth are nine times more likely to die by suicide than their neurotypical peers, underscoring the urgency for scalable mental health solutions.
By combining digital gaming and positive psychology, this collaboration aims to create accessible interventions that can support families and relieve pressure on the NHS. “In five or ten years, I’d like to see these tools as part of everyday life,” Fiellin said. “Not as a novelty, but as a normal, positive resource that families, schools, and communities rely on. Because all kids benefit from play.”
This partnership demonstrates how digital innovation can bridge scientific disciplines to support neurodiverse youth and strengthen emotional resilience across generations.
