Beatty, Clare and Malik, Tanya and Meheli, Saha and Sinha, Chaitali (2022) Evaluating the Therapeutic Alliance With a Free-Text CBT Conversational Agent (Wysa): A Mixed-Methods Study. Frontiers in Digital Health, 4. ISSN 2673-253X
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Abstract
The present study aims to examine whether users perceive a therapeutic alliance with an AI conversational agent (Wysa) and observe changes in the t‘herapeutic alliance over a brief time period. A sample of users who screened positively on the PHQ-4 for anxiety or depression symptoms (N = 1,205) of the digital mental health application (app) Wysa were administered the WAI-SR within 5 days of installing the app and gave a second assessment on the same measure after 3 days (N = 226). The anonymised transcripts of user's conversations with Wysa were also examined through content analysis for unprompted elements of bonding between the user and Wysa (N = 950). Within 5 days of initial app use, the mean WAI-SR score was 3.64 (SD 0.81) and the mean bond subscale score was 3.98 (SD 0.94). Three days later, the mean WAI-SR score increased to 3.75 (SD 0.80) and the mean bond subscale score increased to 4.05 (SD 0.91). There was no significant difference in the alliance scores between Assessment 1 and Assessment 2.These mean bond subscale scores were found to be comparable to the scores obtained in recent literature on traditional, outpatient-individual CBT, internet CBT and group CBT. Content analysis of the transcripts of user conversations with the CA (Wysa) also revealed elements of bonding such as gratitude, self-disclosed impact, and personification. The user's therapeutic alliance scores improved over time and were comparable to ratings from previous studies on alliance in human-delivered face-to-face psychotherapy with clinical populations. This study provides critical support for the utilization of digital mental health services, based on the evidence of the establishment of an alliance.
Item Type: | Article |
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Subjects: | Euro Archives > Multidisciplinary |
Depositing User: | Managing Editor |
Date Deposited: | 14 Feb 2023 04:11 |
Last Modified: | 04 Mar 2024 03:52 |
URI: | http://publish7promo.com/id/eprint/1422 |