Chatbot for Depression, Anxiety, and Eating Disorders

NCT06013137 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: STUDY02000591
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 210
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The research team would like to test how efficacious an artificial intelligence chatbot is in delivering supportive behavioral interventions in populations with anxiety, depression, or eating concerns.

Conditions

Depression; Anxiety; Eating Disorders

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Anxiety Symptoms

  Anxiety symptoms will be measured with the GAD-IV.

  Each participant in the anxiety cohort will fill out an anxiety questionnaire to establish baseline symptoms, and they will fill out this questionnaire again after 4 and 8 weeks of using the therapy chatbot to track changes in their symptoms.

• Depressive Symptoms

  Depressive symptoms will be measured with the PHQ-9.

  Each participant in the depression cohort will fill out a questionnaire to establish baseline symptoms, and they will fill out this questionnaire again after 4 and 8 weeks of using the therapy chatbot to track changes in their symptoms.

• Eating Disorders Symptoms

  Eating Disorders symptoms will be measured with the SWED.

  Each participant in the eating disorders cohort will fill out a questionnaire to establish baseline symptoms, and they will fill out this questionnaire again after 4 and 8 weeks of using the therapy chatbot to track changes in their symptoms.

Study Arms (2)

Experimental

EXPERIMENTAL

This group will have access to the Therabot smartphone application. They will interact with the generative chatbot daily to discuss their mental health. Each participant in this group will have some benchmark symptoms of depression, anxiety, or eating disorders. They will fill out questionnaires every 4 weeks to describe changes in symptoms.

Other: Therabot

Control

NO INTERVENTION

This group will not have access to the Therabot App. They will fill out questionnaires every 4 weeks to describe changes in symptoms. Each participant in this group will have some benchmark symptoms of depression, anxiety, or eating disorders.

Interventions

Therabot OTHER

The participants assigned to the experimental group will interact with an artificial intelligence therapy chatbot to alleviate symptoms associated with depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. The control group will not have access to this smartphone chatbot app.

Also known as: Artificial Intelligence Chatbot

Experimental

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• We will recruit participants online using Facebook, Google Ads, Reddit, MTurk, listservs, and other online platforms.
• These individuals must meet the criteria for anxiety, depression or disordered eating, according to the PHQ-9, GADQ-IV, and SWED 3.0.

You may not qualify if:

• Individuals currently being treated for active suicidality (measured with C-SSRS), Bipolar I/II, and active psychosis will be excluded from the study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center: lead

Study Sites (1)

Dartmouth College

Lebanon, New Hampshire, 03766, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Depression; Anxiety Disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Mental Disorders; Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Nicholas C Jacobson, PhD

  Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Dr. Nicholas Jacobson

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 22, 2023
• First Posted: August 28, 2023
• Study Start: March 11, 2024
• Primary Completion: May 18, 2024
• Study Completion: August 30, 2024
• Last Updated: June 27, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)