Feasibility and acceptability of the MentiParent AI chatbot for training parental reflective functioning.

Karen Yirmiya, Elad Refoua, Alexandra Truscott, Hayley Reeve, Peter Fonagy, Zohar Elyoseph

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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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.

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Karen Yirmiya *Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel.

Elad Refoua *Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.

Alexandra TruscottResearch Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.

Hayley ReeveResearch Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.

Peter FonagyResearch Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK. p.fonagy@ucl.ac.uk.

Zohar ElyosephSchool of Therapy, Counseling and Human Development, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study presents a novel generative AI-based chatbot, MentiParent, designed to enhance Parental Reflective Functioning (PRF) through interactive, simulated parent-child interactions. Addressing existing limitations of traditional PRF interventions this proof-of-concept investigation assessed the feasibility and acceptability of implementing AI-driven technology within reflective parenting support. Two pilot studies were conducted. In Study 1, sixty mental health practitioners and graduate students engaged with MentiParent, simulating realistic interactions with a virtual adolescent ("Danny"). In Study 2, thirty-six parents from the general population interacted with an updated version of MentiParent featuring a new virtual child ("Evelyn"). All participants evaluated the MentiParent usability and relevance for real-world parenting contexts on a scale of 1-7, as well as provided qualitative feedback. Both practitioners and parents rated the chatbot highly for feasibility (M

Indexed as

Cognitive ReflectionGenerative Artificial IntelligenceParent-Child RelationsParentingParentsAdolescentAdultFeasibility StudiesFemaleHumansMalePilot ProjectsArtificial intelligenceChatbotDigital mental healthGenerative AIMentalizationParental reflective functioningParenting interventions

Identifiers

PMID41991975

DOI10.1038/s41598-026-47934-4

PMCPMC13247147

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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.