The online mindset intervention 'The Growth Factory' for adolescents with intellectual disabilities: moderators and mediators.
An online growth-mindset game eases girls’ worry and boosts boys’ stick-to-it effort in teens with mild ID, especially when they say the sessions are fun.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers built an online game called The Growth Factory. It teaches teens with mild-borderline intellectual disability that skills can grow with effort.
Kids logged in from home or school. The program used short videos, quizzes, and comic stories to plant a growth mindset.
The team ran a randomized trial. They wanted to know who benefits most and why.
What they found
Girls cut internalizing problems such as worry and sadness. Boys boosted perseverance on tough tasks.
The teens who said, "I liked the sessions," gained the most. Satisfaction worked like fuel for change.
Overall, mental health and stick-to-it spirit improved more in the mindset group than in the wait-list group.
How this fits with other research
Katz et al. (2020) also saw big gains in a school-based program for students with developmental disabilities. Their teacher-led class lifted self-concept and coping. The new study shows an online version can work too, giving schools a remote option.
Boudreau et al. (2015) and Porter et al. (2008) blended cognitive and behavioral lessons for depressed adults with mild ID. They met in person and reduced negative thoughts. The 2022 paper trims the content to short mindset lessons and still cuts internalizing problems, hinting that simpler online modules can match fuller CBT packages.
Rieth et al. (2022) tested a 10-minute online module for socially anxious adults. It nudged 70 % toward treatment-seeking. The Growth Factory mirrors that brief, self-guided format but targets adolescents with ID and tracks gender-specific gains.
Waldron et al. (2023) looked for moderators in behavioral activation for adults with ID and depression. They found baseline anxiety and hearing status shaped outcomes. The 2022 study adds a new moderator—session satisfaction—showing that liking the program, not just showing up, drives success.
Why it matters
You can assign The Growth Factory as homework. No extra staff, no bus rides. Check early if the teen enjoys the sessions; enjoyment predicts progress. For girls, watch for drops in worry. For boys, count how long they stay with hard tasks. A quick smiley-face rating after each module tells you if you are on track.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The online mindset intervention The Growth Factory (TGF) has shown promising effects-increasing growth mindsets and perseverance and decreasing mental health problems among youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Studying moderators and mediators of intervention effects is essential to elucidate for whom and why TGF works. Using a randomised controlled trial design, we examined youth's baseline mindset, gender, age, level of ID and intervention satisfaction as moderators of TGF effects and examined whether the intervention effects of TGF on improvements in mental health were mediated by perseverance. METHODS: The sample consisted of 119 participants with mild to borderline ID (Mage = 15.83; SD = 2.23), randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 60) or passive control group (n = 59). Participants reported mindsets, perseverance, internalising, externalising, attention and total mental health problems at pre-test, at post-test and at 3-month follow-up. Additionally, youth in the intervention group graded their satisfaction with a score at the end of each session. RESULTS: Findings indicated that the effectiveness of TGF was not affected by participants' baseline mindsets, age and ID level. TGF was more effective in reducing internalising problems in girls and increasing perseverance in boys. In addition, in the intervention group TGF was more effective in improving internalising, externalising and total mental health problems for youth who reported higher levels of intervention satisfaction at post-test. Finally, TGF indirectly decreased internalising and externalising problems at follow-up through improvements in perseverance reported at post-test. CONCLUSIONS: TGF offers a universal, 'add-on' mindset intervention complementing usual care programmes. It improves mindsets, perseverance and mental health in youth with ID. Both practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2022 · doi:10.1111/jir.12970