scholarly journals Intelligent Cognitive Assistants for Attitude and Behavior Change Support in Mental Health: State-of-the-Art Technical Review

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1250
Author(s):  
Tine Kolenik ◽  
Matjaž Gams
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Behavior Change ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Synchronous Communication ◽  
Health State ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Change Behavior ◽  
Behavior Change Support Systems ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Behavior Change Support

Intelligent cognitive assistant (ICA) technology is used in various domains to emulate human behavior expressed through synchronous communication, especially written conversation. Due to their ability to use individually tailored natural language, they present a powerful vessel to support attitude and behavior change. Behavior change support systems are emerging as a crucial tool in digital mental health services, and ICAs exceed in effective support, especially for stress, anxiety and depression (SAD), where ICAs guide people’s thought processes and actions by analyzing their affective and cognitive phenomena. Currently, there is no comprehensive review of such ICAs from a technical standpoint, and existing work is conducted exclusively from a psychological or medical perspective. This technical state-of-the-art review tried to discern and systematize current technological approaches and trends as well as detail the highly interdisciplinary landscape of intersections between ICAs, attitude and behavior change, and mental health, focusing on text-based ICAs for SAD. Ten papers with systems, fitting our criteria, were selected. The systems varied significantly in their approaches, with the most successful opting for comprehensive user models, classification-based assessment, personalized intervention, and dialogue tree conversational models.

scholarly journals Mental and Emotional Self-Help Technology Apps: Cross-Sectional Study of Theory, Technology, and Mental Health Behaviors

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. e45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin T Crookston ◽  
Joshua H West ◽  
P Cougar Hall ◽  
Kaitana Martinez Dahle ◽  
Thomas L Heaton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Behavior Change ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Emotional Health ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
Self Help ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Impact

Background Mental and emotional self-help apps have emerged as potential mental illness prevention and treatment tools. The health behavior theory mechanisms by which these apps influence mental health–related behavior change have not been thoroughly examined. Objective The objective of this study was to examine the association between theoretical behavior change mechanisms and use of mental and emotional self-help apps and whether the use of such apps is associated with mental health behaviors. Methods This study utilized a cross-sectional survey of 150 users of mental or emotional health apps in the past 6 months. Survey questions included theory-based items, app engagement and likeability items, and behavior change items. Stata version 14 was used to calculate all statistics. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each of the demographic, theory, engagement, and behavior variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with reported changes in theory and separately for reported changes in actual behavior after controlling for potentially confounding variables. Results Participants reported that app use increased their motivation, desire to set goals, confidence, control, and intentions to be mentally and emotionally healthy. Engagement (P<.001) was positively associated with the reported changes in theory items, whereas perceived behavior change was positively associated with theory (P<.001), engagement (P=.004), frequency of use of apps (P=.01), and income (P=.049). Conclusions Participants reported that app use increased their motivation, desire to set goals, confidence, control, and intentions to be mentally and emotionally healthy. This increase in perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes surrounding their mental and emotional health was considerably associated with perceived change in behavior. There was a positive association between the level of engagement with the app and the impact on theory items. Future efforts should consider the value of impacting key theoretical constructs when designing mental and emotional health apps. As apps are evaluated and additional theory-based apps are created, cost-effective self-help apps may become common preventative and treatment tools in the mental health field.

scholarly journals Opportunities and challenges of behavior change support systems for enhancing habit formation: A qualitative study

2018 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 82-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasi Karppinen ◽  
Harri Oinas-Kukkonen ◽  
Tuomas Alahäivälä ◽  
Terhi Jokelainen ◽  
Anna-Maria Teeriniemi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Behavior Change ◽  
Habit Formation ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Behavior Change Support Systems ◽  
Behavior Change Support
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