Trial reportThe International journal of eating disorders2024
Effects of Chatbot Components to Facilitate Mental Health Services Use in Individuals With Eating Disorders Following Online Screening: An Optimization Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in The International journal of eating disorders, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Effectiveness of a Chatbot Single-Session Intervention for People on Waitlists for Eating Disorder Treatment: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Body Image and Eating Disorder Education Chatbot, JEM, in Australia and Canada: First 6-Month Real-World Survey Evaluation.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Power Calculation in 2Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2026Article
- Leveraging Technology to Enhance Eating Disorder Treatment Outcomes.The Psychiatric clinics of North America · 2026Review
- Increasing engagement with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) using generative AI: a randomized controlled trial (RCT).Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Charting the evolution of artificial intelligence mental health chatbots from rule-based systems to large language models: a systematic review.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2025Article
- Using Machine Learning to Predict Uptake to an Online Self-Guided Intervention for Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveFew individuals with eating disorders (EDs) receive treatment. Innovations are needed to identify individuals with EDs and address care barriers. We developed a chatbot for promoting services uptake that could be paired with online screening. However, it is not yet known which components drive effects. This study estimated individual and combined contributions of four chatbot components on mental health services use (primary), chatbot helpfulness, and attitudes toward changing eating/shape/weight concerns ("change attitudes," with higher scores indicating greater importance/readiness).
methodsTwo hundred five individuals screening with an ED but not in treatment were randomized in an optimization randomized controlled trial to receive up to four chatbot components: psychoeducation, motivational interviewing, personalized service recommendations, and repeated administration (follow-up check-ins/reminders). Assessments were at baseline and 2, 6, and 14 weeks.
resultsParticipants who received repeated administration were more likely to report mental health services use, with no significant effects of other components on services use. Repeated administration slowed the decline in change attitudes participants experienced over time. Participants who received motivational interviewing found the chatbot more helpful, but this component was also associated with larger declines in change attitudes. Participants who received personalized recommendations found the chatbot more helpful, and receiving this component on its own was associated with the most favorable change attitude time trend. Psychoeducation showed no effects. DISCUSSION: Results indicated important effects of components on outcomes; findings will be used to finalize decision making about the optimized intervention package. The chatbot shows high potential for addressing the treatment gap for EDs.
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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.