Improving Mental Health in Young Adults Using a Character Chatbot

A Study on the Effects of Character-Embodied Conversation Agents on Depression and Anxiety in Young Adults

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

CRIS

Registry ID

KCT0012309

Enrollment

Registered

2026-07-21

Start date

2026-01-19

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-08-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Interventions

Behavioral : This was a two-arm parallel-group randomized controlled trial. Participants are randomly assigned to a chatbot intervention group or a bibliotherapy control group and received the interve

daily use is checked by the research team. In both groups, depressive and anxiety symptoms are assessed with the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 at baseline (T0), midpoint (T1, week 1), and postintervention (T2, wee

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1) Young adults aged 19 to 29 years 2) Self-reported depressive or anxiety symptoms 3) Provided voluntary informed consent after explanation of study procedures 4) Able to access the intervention via smartphone or web

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1) Concurrent participation in another digital mental health intervention or professional psychological counseling during the study 2) Unable to complete study procedures or withdrew consent

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Depressive symptom severity, measured by the total score of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9, Korean version)	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Anxiety symptom severity, measured by the total score of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7, Korean version)	—

Countries

Korea, Republic of

Contacts

Public ContactHyewon Cho

Seoul National University

cocohw@snu.ac.kr+82-2-880-6450

Outcome results