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. 2023 Jan 11:4:989022.
doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2022.989022. eCollection 2022.

User experience with a parenting chatbot micro intervention

G A Entenberg  1 , G Dosovitsky  2 , S Aghakhani  2 , K Mostovoy  2 , N Carre  2 , Z Marshall  2 , D Benfica  2 , S Mizrahi  1 , A Testerman  2 , A Rousseau  2 , G Lin  2 , E L Bunge  2   3
Affiliations

User experience with a parenting chatbot micro intervention

G A Entenberg et al. Front Digit Health. .

Abstract

Background: The use of chatbots to address mental health conditions have become increasingly popular in recent years. However, few studies aimed to teach parenting skills through chatbots, and there are no reports on parental user experience. Aim: This study aimed to assess the user experience of a parenting chatbot micro intervention to teach how to praise children in a Spanish-speaking country.

Methods: A sample of 89 parents were assigned to the chatbot micro intervention as part of a randomized controlled trial study. Completion rates, engagement, satisfaction, net promoter score, and acceptability were analyzed.

Results: 66.3% of the participants completed the intervention. Participants exchanged an average of 49.8 messages (SD = 1.53), provided an average satisfaction score of 4.19 (SD = .79), and reported that they would recommend the chatbot to other parents (net promoter score = 4.63/5; SD = .66). Acceptability level was high (ease of use = 4.66 [SD = .73]; comfortability = 4.76 [SD = .46]; lack of technical problems = 4.69 [SD = .59]; interactivity = 4.51 [SD = .77]; usefulness for everyday life = 4.75 [SD = .54]).

Conclusions: Overall, users completed the intervention at a high rate, engaged with the chatbot, were satisfied, would recommend it to others, and reported a high level of acceptability. Chatbots have the potential to teach parenting skills however research on the efficacy of parenting chatbot interventions is needed.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; chatbot; conversational agent; intervention; parenting; user experience (UX).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Screenshots of the chatbot for the “Specific” and “Enthusiasm” skills. Note. Images on the left show skill 1 (Specific) and images on the right show skill 4 (Enthusiasm).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Screenshots of the chatbot for the “Avoid combining praise with criticism” skill and reviewing what was taught at the end of the intervention. Note. The image on the left shows skill 2 (Avoid combining praise with criticism) and the image on the right shows the review of what was taught at the end of the intervention.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Flow of participants through the study.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Skills completed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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