A recent study by clinician doctors from the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University Singapore has found that chatbots display a "coach-like" personality that is encouraging, nurturing, and motivating and can be helpful in self-managing the symptoms of depression.
The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of mental health chatbots in helping alleviate symptoms of depression by evaluating the dialogues between chatbots and users for the first time.
The findings have been published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
The Study
The study tested nine mental health chatbots with at least 500,000 downloads each from major app stores. Four of these apps: Marvin, Serenity, Woebot, and 7 Cups are free-to-use while the remaining five: Happify, InnerHour, Wooper, Wysa and Tomo, are subscription-based.
They were evaluated using scripted user personas that were created to reflect different cultures, ages, and genders, as well as different levels of depressive symptoms.
The research team assessed the quality and effectiveness of the chatbots’ responses, the level of personalisation and appropriateness in supporting self-management of depression, and how they convey empathy to users. Their study also observed how the chatbots guided users to engage in or complete mood-boosting activities and how they monitor moods and managed suicide risks.
Based on the findings, the chatbots engaged in empathetic and non-judgmental conversations with users and offered support and guidance through psychotherapeutic exercises commonly used by psychologists and counsellors.
However, the team noted, the chatbots have yet to deliver personalized advice.
The study’s authors suggested future research is needed to improve these tools for individuals at risk of suicide and to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of chatbot-led interventions for mental health.
Additionally, the chatbots maintained the confidentiality of users' personal information, including chat history, names, and addresses, without storing or transfering them.
Join the HealthXL Webinar on ‘Retail Healthcare: Current and Future Opportunities for Digital Health’ on 26th January. Click here to Request to Join.
Click here to read the complete study.