Adolescent Chatbot
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Wysa Digital Chatbot Program.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Body Image Disturbance, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Eating Disorder Prevention. Basic parameters: 13 years — 19 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Improving Access to Services, Preventing Eating Disorders, and Addressing Comorbid Depression and Anxiety in Diverse Adolescents
Overview
The purpose of this study is to test an eating disorders prevention digital chatbot program in a diverse group of adolescents.
Detailed description
Eating disorders (EDs) are impacting youth at extreme rates, with up to 22% of adolescents reporting ED symptoms, and are associated with very high psychiatric comorbidity. Since adolescence is a critical period for the onset of eating disorders, prevention during this stage is essential to reducing lifetime prevalence. Interventions have been developed to prevent the onset of these devastating disorders, but these programs are generally not publicly available and rarely offer support for addressing comorbidity or the unique needs of vulnerable subpopulations (e.g., low-income populations, sexual and gender minorities, racial/ethnic minorities, those from rural areas), who are even less likely to have access to high-quality care. One scalable, engaging, easy-to use, and convenient approach to increasing access to evidence-based EDs prevention for underserved groups involves using a chatbot. This project will adapt our team's existing EDs prevention chatbot for use with adolescents, including those from diverse backgrounds, and evaluate its effectiveness. Our deep industry and non-profit partnerships will ensure scalability and ultimate real-world impact.
Interventions
- Behavioral Wysa Digital Chatbot Program
Wysa is a digital rules-based chatbot program platform offering cognitive-behavioral therapy-based guided self-help modules, including five modules for eating and body image developed by our team. Participants in this arm will engage with the digital chatbot program daily for three months to complete all five modules.
Primary outcome measures
- ED risk factors; Weight Concerns Scale [Time frame: 6 - months]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- 13 - 19 years old
- Owns a smartphone
- Speaks English
- US resident
- Screens as at-risk for an eating disorder
- Not currently in treatment for an eating disorder
Exclusion criteria
- Below 13 or older than 19 years of age
- Does not own a smartphone
- Does not speak English
- Lives outside the US
- Screens as:
- Having a subclinical or clinical ED
- Not at risk for an ED
- In treatment for an ED
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
Study locations
United States · 1 center
- Washington University in St. Louis — St Louis
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07094503 · 202501059