US researchers have developed a chatbot that can help reduce a person’s chances of developing an eating disorder. As The Verge reports, the bot helped women at a high risk for the eating disorder reduce their concern over body weight and size — a factor that contributes to their risk. According to Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, digital prevention programs can be more effective when guided by a human moderator.
The team developed a chatbot that offered “some aspects of moderation in an automated format”, Fitzsimmons-Craft was quoted as saying. Study participants can use a chatbot or text Facebook Courier. The study recruited female participants through online advertisements, fliers, and the National Eating Disorder Association Online Eating Disorder Screening Test. Women who did not have an active eating disorder but had risk factors for one, such as negative body image or extreme concern about their weight, were randomly asked to either join a chatbot or sit on a waiting list. was assigned to.
The chatbot offered eight conversations about body image and healthy eating topics, and women using the bot were encouraged to have two conversations each week. At three- and six-month check-in, women who spoke to the chatbot had a large drop in concerns on a survey about their weight and body shape – a major risk factor for developing an eating disorder – on waiting lists. compared to women in the group, the report said.
The study, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, also found some indication that women in the chatbot group were less likely to develop a clinical eating disorder by the end of six months than women in the waiting list group.
“It could have a great public health impact if we can continue to find ways to spread it widely,” Fitzsimmons-Craft said.
The report said it is one of the first studies to test the effectiveness of chatbots in health care, even though they are widely used in medical settings to aid in everything from COVID-19 symptom screening to therapy. go, the report said.
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