Project MuKi

Brave children

The MuKi project studied children aged between 8 and 12 (in the pilot phase) whose early life history has been characterised by frequent separation and other aversive experiences.  A large number of studies have shown that children who grow up in insecure circumstances often show a range of behavioural and regulatory problems. In particular, these children are thought to show increased expectancy anxiety and emotion avoidance, which – in particular – affects their reward processing.

To gain a better understanding of these results, the children played a computer game in which they could both win and lose something. It was expected that children with an unremarkable life history would have better behavioural control in win-lose situations. The children were also asked about their family history and their personal strengths and weaknesses using established psychometric methods. If necessary, the children were immediately referred for psychotherapeutic treatment.