Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30858710›Full record

ArticleBiomedical informatics insights2019

Can Your Phone Be Your Therapist? Young People's Ethical Perspectives on the Use of Fully Automated Conversational Agents (Chatbots) in Mental Health Support.

Kira Kretzschmar, Holly Tyroll, Gabriela Pavarini, Arianna Manzini, Ilina Singh, NeurOx Young People’s Advisory Group

2 registry-linked trialsAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Biomedical informatics insights, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 85 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
85citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04640090 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2020, after this paper: background citation

Effectiveness of a Smartphone Wellness App to Improve Mental Well-being: A Pilot Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorWashington University School of MedicineRan2020 to 2021Enrolled60ConditionsMusculoskeletal Diseases, Chronic Pain, Anxiety Disorders, DepressionArmsSmartphone app (Wysa)
NCT06621134 completednot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Comparing the Effectiveness of an AI Chatbot with That of a Telephone Hotline for Answering COVID-19 Related Issues

TypeobservationalSponsorThe University of Hong KongRan2021 to 2024Enrolled48ConditionsTelephone Hotlines, AI ChatbotArmsAI Chatbot, Telephone hotline
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

85 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Evaluating Commercially Available Mobile Apps for Depression Self-Management.AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium · 2020
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  8. Scoping review on natural language processing applications in counselling and psychotherapy.British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953) · 2026
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  13. Investigating the Role of Situational Disruptors in Engagement with Digital Mental Health Tools.CSCW : proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work · 2025
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25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Kira KretzschmarOxford Neuroscience, Ethics and Society Young People's Advisory Group, Department of Pychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Holly TyrollOxford Neuroscience, Ethics and Society Young People's Advisory Group, Department of Pychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Gabriela PavariniDepartment of Psychiatry and Wellcome Centre for Ethics & Humanities, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5574-4021
Arianna ManziniDepartment of Psychiatry and Wellcome Centre for Ethics & Humanities, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Ilina SinghDepartment of Psychiatry and Wellcome Centre for Ethics & Humanities, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4497-3587
NeurOx Young People’s Advisory Group

Funding

Wellcome Trust 203329/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Over the last decade, there has been an explosion of digital interventions that aim to either supplement or replace face-to-face mental health services. More recently, a number of automated conversational agents have also been made available, which respond to users in ways that mirror a real-life interaction. What are the social and ethical concerns that arise from these advances? In this article, we discuss, from a young person's perspective, the strengths and limitations of using chatbots in mental health support. We also outline what we consider to be minimum ethical standards for these platforms, including issues surrounding privacy and confidentiality, efficacy, and safety, and review three existing platforms (Woebot, Joy, and Wysa) according to our proposed framework. It is our hope that this article will stimulate ethical debate among app developers, practitioners, young people, and other stakeholders, and inspire ethically responsible practice in digital mental health.

Indexed as

appsartificial intelligenceChatbotsconversational agentdigital mental healthhuman-computer interactionmental healththerapyyoung peopleyouth mental health

Identifiers

PMID30858710
PMCPMC6402067

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.