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Cited by 103Digital Mental Health InterventionsSocial Robot Interaction and HRIEmotion and Mood Recognition

A chatbot for mental health support: exploring the impact of Emohaa on reducing mental distress in China

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Sabour, Sahand, Zhang, Wen, Xiao, Xiyao, Zhang, Yuwei, Zheng, Yinhe, Wen, Jiaxin, Zhao, Jialu, Huang, Minlie·2023·Frontiers in Digital Health
DOI 10.3389/fdgth.2023.1133987PMC PMC10193040
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Abstract

Introduction The growing demand for mental health support has highlighted the importance of conversational agents as human supporters worldwide and in China. These agents could increase availability and reduce the relative costs of mental health support. The provided support can be divided into two main types: cognitive and emotional. Existing work on this topic mainly focuses on constructing agents that adopt Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) principles. Such agents operate based on pre-defined templates and exercises to provide cognitive support. However, research on emotional support using such agents is limited. In addition, most of the constructed agents operate in English, highlighting the importance of conducting such studies in China. To this end, we introduce Emohaa, a conversational agent that provides cognitive support through CBT-Bot exercises and guided conversations. It also emotionally supports users through ES-Bot, enabling them to vent their emotional problems. In this study, we analyze the effectiveness of Emohaa in reducing symptoms of mental distress. Methods and Results Following the RCT design, the current study randomly assigned participants into three groups: Emohaa (CBT-Bot), Emohaa (Full), and control. With both Intention-To-Treat ( N = 247 ) and PerProtocol ( N = 134 ) analyses, the results demonstrated that compared to the control group, participants who used two types of Emohaa experienced considerably more significant improvements in symptoms of mental distress, including depression ( F [ 2 , 244 ] = 6.26 , p = 0.002 ), negative affect ( F [ 2 , 244 ] = 6.09 , p = 0.003 ), and insomnia ( F [ 2 , 244 ] = 3.69 , p = 0.026 ). Discussion Based on the obtained results and participants’ satisfaction with the platform, we concluded that Emohaa is a practical and effective tool for reducing mental distress.

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Authors
Sabour, S., Zhang, W., Xiao, X., Zhang, Y., Zheng, Y., Wen, J., Zhao, J., & Huang, M.
Affiliations
  • State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Technology and Systems (CN)
  • Beijing Normal University (CN)
  • Tsinghua University (CN)
Corresponding author
  • Sabour, Sahand
  • Huang, Minlie
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Digital Health
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2023-05-04
Volume
5
Pages
1133987-1133987
ISSN
2673-253X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fdgth.2023.1133987
PMC
PMC10193040
OpenAlex
W4377565325
Cited by
102
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 31 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 10
FWCI
26.33
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Digital Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Emotion and Mood Recognition
Keywords
chatbots, mental health support, cognitive behavioral therapy, depression, negative affect, insomnia, emotional support, psychological distress, China

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