Adolescents’ Well-being While Using a Mobile Artificial Intelligence–Powered Acceptance Commitment Therapy Tool: Evidence From a Longitudinal Study

BackgroundAdolescence is a critical developmental period to prevent and treat the emergence of mental health problems. Smartphone-based conversational agents can deliver psychologically driven intervention and support, thus increasing psychological well-being over time. ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to test the potential of an automated conversational agent named Kai.ai to deliver a self-help program based on Acceptance Commitment Therapy tools for adolescents, aimed to increase their well-being. MethodsParticipants were 10,387 adolescents, aged 14-18 years, who used Kai.ai on one of the top messaging apps (eg, iMessage and WhatsApp). Users’ well-being levels were assessed between 2 and 5 times using the 5-item World Health Organization Well-being Index questionnaire over their engagement with the service. ResultsUsers engaged with the conversational agent an average of 45.39 (SD 46.77) days. The average well-being score at time point 1 was 39.28 (SD 18.17), indicating that, on average, users experienced reduced well-being. Latent growth curve modeling indicated that participants’ well-being significantly increased over time (β=2.49; P<.001) and reached a clinically acceptable well-being average score (above 50). ConclusionsMobile-based conversational agents have the potential to deliver engaging and effective Acceptance Commitment Therapy interventions

Adolescents’ wellbeing while using a mobile AI-powered acceptance commitment therapy tool: evidence from a longitudinal study

Background: Adolescence is a critical developmental period to prevent and treat the emergence of mental health problems. Smartphones-based conversational agents can deliver psychological driven intervention and support, thus increasing psychological wellbeing over time. Objective: The objective of the study was to test the potential of an automated conversational agent named Kai.ai to deliver a self-help program based on ACT tools for adolescents, aimed to increase their wellbeing. Methods: Participants were 10,387 adolescents, between the ages of 14-18 years old, who used Kai.ai in on one of the top messaging apps (e.g., iMessage, WhatsApp). Users’ well-being levels were assessed between two and five times using the WHO-5 well-being questionnaire, over their engagement with service. Results: Users engaged with the conversational agent an average of 45.39 days (SD = 46.77), in which they have sent a total average of 214.3 messages (SD = 220.24). The average wellbeing score at T1 was 39.09 (SD = 18.15), indicating that, on average, users experienced reduced wellbeing. Multilevel modeling analysis indicated that participants’ wellbeing significantly increased over time (β= 1.62, p &lt; .0001), and reached a clinically acceptable wellbeing average score (above 50). Conclusions: Mobile based conversational agents has the potential to deliver engaging and effective way to deliver Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) interventions

Emotion regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Risk and resilience factors for parental burnout (IIPB)

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted families’ lives around the world. The measures used to contain transmission have led to increased stress and put parents at increased risk for parental burnout (PB). The aim of the current study was to examine the association between COVID-related parental stress and PB, and to test whether emotion regulation (ER) moderated this association. We hypothesised that rumination, which is a generally maladaptive ER strategy, would act as a risk factor. In comparison, we hypothesised that reappraisal, which is a generally adaptive ER strategy, would act as a resilience factor. We assessed 8225 parents from 22 countries using an on-line survey, and focused on general stress and parenting stress. These stressors were associated with greater PB. Importantly, parental ER moderated these associations; rumination strengthened the link between stress-related variables and PB, whereas reappraisal weakened it. This study emphasises the negative effect COVID-19 has on parents and highlights key ER risk and resilience factors

Emotion regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic: risk and resilience factors for parental burnout (IIPB)

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted families’ lives around the world. The measures used to contain transmission have led to increased stress and put parents at increased risk for parental burnout (PB). The aim of the current study was to examine the association between COVID-related parental stress and PB, and to test whether emotion regulation (ER) moderated this association. We hypothesised that rumination, which is a generally maladaptive ER strategy, would act as a risk factor. In comparison, we hypothesised that reappraisal, which is a generally adaptive ER strategy, would act as a resilience factor. We assessed 8225 parents from 22 countries using an on-line survey, and focused on general stress and parenting stress. These stressors were associated with greater PB. Importantly, parental ER moderated these associations; rumination strengthened the link between stress-related variables and PB, whereas reappraisal weakened it. This study emphasises the negative effect COVID-19 has on parents and highlights key ER risk and resilience factors

Parental Burnout Across the Globe During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all societies worldwide. The heightened levels of stress that accompanied the crisis were also expected to affect parenting in many families. Since it is known that high levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to a condition that has severe consequences for health and well-being, we examined whether the prevalence of parental burnout in 26 countries (9,923 parents; 75% mothers; mean age 40) increased during COVID-19 compared to few years before the pandemic. In most (but not all) countries, analyses showed a significant increase in the prevalence of parental burnout during the pandemic. The results further revealed that next to governmental measures (e.g., number of days locked down, homeschooling) and factors at the individual and family level (e.g., gender, number of children), parents in less (vs. more) indulgent countries suffered more from parental burnout. The findings suggest that stricter norms regarding their parenting roles and duties in general and during the pandemic in particular might have increased their levels of parental burnout.peerReviewe

Parental burnout across the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all societies worldwide. The heightened levels of stress that accompanied the crisis were also expected to affect parenting in many families. Since it is known that high levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to a condition that has severe consequences for health and well-being, we examined whether the prevalence of parental burnout in 26 countries (9,923 parents; 75% mothers; mean age 40) increased during COVID-19 compared to few years before the pandemic. In most (but not all) countries, analyses showed a significant increase in the prevalence of parental burnout during the pandemic. The results further revealed that next to governmental measures (e.g., number of days locked down, homeschooling) and factors at the individual and family level (e.g., gender, number of children), parents in less (vs. more) indulgent countries suffered more from parental burnout. The findings suggest that stricter norms regarding their parenting roles and duties in general and during the pandemic in particular might have increased their levels of parental burnout

Parental burnout across the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all societies worldwide. The heightened levels of stress that accompanied the crisis were also expected to affect parenting in many families. Since it is known that high levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to a condition that has severe consequences for health and wellbeing, parental burnout, we examined whether the prevalence of parental burnout in 26 countries (9923 parents; 75% mothers; mean age 40) increased during COVID-19 compared to few years before the pandemic. In most (but not all) countries, analyses showed a significant increase in the prevalence of parental burnout during the pandemic. The results further revealed that next to governmental measures (e.g., number of days locked down, home-schooling) and factors at the individual and family level (e.g., gender, number of children), parents in less (versus more) indulgent countries suffered more from parental burnout. The findings suggest that stricter norms regarding their parenting roles and duties in general and during the pandemic in particular might have increased their levels of parental burnout