PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of child and adolescent mental health issues is increasing faster than the number of services available, leading to a shortfall. Mental health chatbots are a highly scalable method to address this gap. Manage Your Life Online (MYLO) is an artificially intelligent chatbot that emulates the method of levels therapy. Method of levels is a therapy that uses curious questioning to support the sustained awareness and exploration of current problems.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a co-designed interface for MYLO in young people aged 16 to 24 years with mental health problems.
METHODS: An iterative co-design phase occurred over 4 months, in which feedback was elicited from a group of young people (n=7) with lived experiences of mental health issues. This resulted in the development of a progressive web application version of MYLO that could be used on mobile phones. We conducted a case series to assess the feasibility and acceptability of MYLO in 13 young people over 2 weeks. During this time, the participants tested MYLO and completed surveys including clinical outcomes and acceptability measures. We then conducted focus groups and interviews and used thematic analysis to obtain feedback on MYLO and identify recommendations for further improvements.
RESULTS: Most participants were positive about their experience of using MYLO and would recommend MYLO to others. The participants enjoyed the simplicity of the interface, found it easy to use, and rated it as acceptable using the System Usability Scale. Inspection of the use data found evidence that MYLO can learn and adapt its questioning in response to user input. We found a large effect size for the decrease in participants\' problem-related distress and a medium effect size for the increase in their self-reported tendency to resolve goal conflicts (the proposed mechanism of change) in the testing phase. Some patients also experienced a reliable change in their clinical outcome measures over the 2 weeks.
CONCLUSIONS: We established the feasibility and acceptability of MYLO. The initial outcomes suggest that MYLO has the potential to support the mental health of young people and help them resolve their own problems. We aim to establish whether the use of MYLO leads to a meaningful reduction in participants\' symptoms of depression and anxiety and whether these are maintained over time by conducting a randomized controlled evaluation trial.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a co-designed interface for MYLO in young people aged 16 to 24 years with mental health problems.
METHODS: An iterative co-design phase occurred over 4 months, in which feedback was elicited from a group of young people (n=7) with lived experiences of mental health issues. This resulted in the development of a progressive web application version of MYLO that could be used on mobile phones. We conducted a case series to assess the feasibility and acceptability of MYLO in 13 young people over 2 weeks. During this time, the participants tested MYLO and completed surveys including clinical outcomes and acceptability measures. We then conducted focus groups and interviews and used thematic analysis to obtain feedback on MYLO and identify recommendations for further improvements.
RESULTS: Most participants were positive about their experience of using MYLO and would recommend MYLO to others. The participants enjoyed the simplicity of the interface, found it easy to use, and rated it as acceptable using the System Usability Scale. Inspection of the use data found evidence that MYLO can learn and adapt its questioning in response to user input. We found a large effect size for the decrease in participants\' problem-related distress and a medium effect size for the increase in their self-reported tendency to resolve goal conflicts (the proposed mechanism of change) in the testing phase. Some patients also experienced a reliable change in their clinical outcome measures over the 2 weeks.
CONCLUSIONS: We established the feasibility and acceptability of MYLO. The initial outcomes suggest that MYLO has the potential to support the mental health of young people and help them resolve their own problems. We aim to establish whether the use of MYLO leads to a meaningful reduction in participants\' symptoms of depression and anxiety and whether these are maintained over time by conducting a randomized controlled evaluation trial.
摘要：
背景：儿童和青少年心理健康问题的患病率增长速度快于可用的服务数量，导致短缺。心理健康聊天机器人是解决这一差距的一种高度可扩展的方法。管理你的生活在线（MYLO）是一个人工智能聊天机器人，模拟水平治疗的方法。水平方法是一种使用好奇的提问来支持对当前问题的持续认识和探索的疗法。
目的：本研究旨在评估MYLO在16至24岁有心理健康问题的年轻人中共同设计界面的可行性和可接受性。
方法：进行了4个月的迭代协同设计阶段，其中反馈来自一群有心理健康问题经历的年轻人（n=7）。这导致了可以在移动电话上使用的MYLO的渐进式Web应用程序版本的开发。我们进行了一系列病例，以评估13名年轻人在2周内使用MYLO的可行性和可接受性。在此期间,参与者测试了MYLO,并完成了包括临床结局和可接受性指标在内的调查.然后，我们进行了焦点小组和访谈，并使用主题分析来获得有关MYLO的反馈，并确定进一步改进的建议。
结果：大多数参与者对使用MYLO的经验持肯定态度，并将MYLO推荐给其他人。参与者喜欢界面的简单性，发现它易于使用，并使用系统可用性量表将其评为可接受。对使用数据的检查发现，MYLO可以学习并适应其询问以响应用户输入的证据。我们发现，在测试阶段，参与者与问题相关的痛苦减少的效应大小很大，而在他们自我报告的解决目标冲突的倾向（拟议的改变机制）增加的效应大小中等。在2周内，一些患者的临床结果指标也发生了可靠的变化。
结论：我们确定了MYLO的可行性和可接受性。初步结果表明，MYLO有可能支持年轻人的心理健康并帮助他们解决自己的问题。我们的目标是确定使用MYLO是否导致参与者的抑郁和焦虑症状有意义的减少，以及这些症状是否随着时间的推移而保持通过进行随机对照评估试验。
目的：本研究旨在评估MYLO在16至24岁有心理健康问题的年轻人中共同设计界面的可行性和可接受性。
方法：进行了4个月的迭代协同设计阶段，其中反馈来自一群有心理健康问题经历的年轻人（n=7）。这导致了可以在移动电话上使用的MYLO的渐进式Web应用程序版本的开发。我们进行了一系列病例，以评估13名年轻人在2周内使用MYLO的可行性和可接受性。在此期间,参与者测试了MYLO,并完成了包括临床结局和可接受性指标在内的调查.然后，我们进行了焦点小组和访谈，并使用主题分析来获得有关MYLO的反馈，并确定进一步改进的建议。
结果：大多数参与者对使用MYLO的经验持肯定态度，并将MYLO推荐给其他人。参与者喜欢界面的简单性，发现它易于使用，并使用系统可用性量表将其评为可接受。对使用数据的检查发现，MYLO可以学习并适应其询问以响应用户输入的证据。我们发现，在测试阶段，参与者与问题相关的痛苦减少的效应大小很大，而在他们自我报告的解决目标冲突的倾向（拟议的改变机制）增加的效应大小中等。在2周内，一些患者的临床结果指标也发生了可靠的变化。
结论：我们确定了MYLO的可行性和可接受性。初步结果表明，MYLO有可能支持年轻人的心理健康并帮助他们解决自己的问题。我们的目标是确定使用MYLO是否导致参与者的抑郁和焦虑症状有意义的减少，以及这些症状是否随着时间的推移而保持通过进行随机对照评估试验。
