None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This pilot project tests whether the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbots is an acceptable and helpful alternative to human support during an online intervention for perfectionism. Perfectionism is a risk factor for anxiety, depression and eating disorders. Participants (N=54) will be receive a self-guided perfectionism workbook to undertake 11 modules at their own pace over 4 week. Groups will be randomly assigned (27 in each group) to (1) receive instructions on how to use the AI Chatbot of their choice to support the workbook, or (2) requested to not use AI support for this task, Participants in the active group will feed back regarding acceptability of this approach. We will compare the impact on module completion between groups together with mental health outcomes: perfectionism, anxiety, depression, stress and eating disorder risk. Effects will also be compared to similar studies using human guidance.
Interventions
"Changing Perfectionism: An Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assisted Self-Help Guide" (Egan, Shafran, Wade, Johnson, Carlbring & Raghav). This is an 11 module self-help booklet (pdf) to target perfectionism, a shared risk factor for anxiety, depression and eating disorders. Module topics include identifying perfectionism, pros and cons of perfectionism, experiments to challenge perfectionism, and changing self-criticism. Participants will have access to one of two versions of the self-help workboo
"Changing Perfectionism: An Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assisted Self-Help Guide" (Egan, Shafran, Wade, Johnson, Carlbring & Raghav). This is an 11 module self-help booklet (pdf) to target perfectionism, a shared risk factor for anxiety, depression and eating disorders. Module topics include identifying perfectionism, pros and cons of perfectionism, experiments to challenge perfectionism, and changing self-criticism. Participants will have access to one of two versions of the self-help workbook online for four weeks, which will be automatically released to them once they register for and consent to the study, and fill out the first survey. For the active intervention group, support will be provided by Artificial Intelligence tools (e,g, chatGPT). The workbook contains new instructions on how best to use artificial intelligence (AI) prompts to assist with questions that arise during the intervention. Example questions to ask AI are also given at the end of each module. The control group will receive the same booklet without the AI instructions, and with a request to avoid using AI for the workbook. Each module takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, totalling 5.5 hours for the 11 module workbook. Within the 4-week period, participants can progress at their own pace. We have added an adherence check regarding how many modules were completed to the post-intervention survey.
Sponsors
Catherine Johnson
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
17 Years to 29 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
17-29 years of age, fluent in English, Self-identifying as a perfectionist (or think you might be: Unhealthy perfectionism = harsh self-criticism, fear of making mistakes, basing your self-worth almost entirely on achievements; different to striving for excellence, which is a good thing").
Exclusion criteria
Past involvement with perfectionism research.
Outcome results
None listed