Table 1.
Characteristics of the included studies (n=12).
| Characteristics | Number of studies | ||
| Study design |
|
||
|
|
Quasiexperiment | 6 | |
|
|
Randomized controlled trial | 6 | |
| Type of publication |
|
||
|
|
Journal article | 8 | |
|
|
Conference proceedings | 3 | |
|
|
Thesis | 1 | |
| Country |
|
||
|
|
United States | 4 | |
|
|
Japan | 1 | |
|
|
Sweden | 1 | |
|
|
Turkey | 1 | |
|
|
Australia | 1 | |
|
|
United Kingdom | 1 | |
|
|
China | 1 | |
|
|
Romania, Spain, and Scotland | 1 | |
|
|
Global population | 1 | |
| Year of publication |
|
||
|
|
2018 | 7 | |
|
|
2017 | 2 | |
|
|
2016 | 1 | |
|
|
2015 | 2 | |
| Sample size |
|
||
|
|
<100 | 6 | |
|
|
100-200 | 3 | |
|
|
>200 | 1 | |
| Age (years), mean (range)a | 31.3 (22-45) | ||
| Sex (male), %b | 35 | ||
| Sample type | |||
|
|
Clinical sample | 6 | |
|
|
Nonclinical sample | 6 | |
| Settingc |
|
||
|
|
Community | 6 | |
|
|
Educational | 4 | |
|
|
Clinical | 3 | |
| Intervention purpose |
|
||
|
|
Therapy | 10 | |
|
|
Self-management | 2 | |
| Intervention platform | |||
|
|
Web-based | 6 | |
|
|
Standalone software | 6 | |
| Intervention response generation |
|
||
|
|
Rule-based | 8 | |
|
|
Artificial intelligence | 4 | |
| Intervention dialogue initiative |
|
||
|
|
Chatbot | 9 | |
|
|
Both | 3 | |
| Intervention input modality |
|
||
|
|
Written | 9 | |
|
|
Spoken | 2 | |
|
|
Written and spoken | 1 | |
| Intervention output modality |
|
||
|
|
Written | 6 | |
|
|
Written, spoken, and visual | 3 | |
|
|
Spoken and visual | 2 | |
|
|
Written and visual | 1 | |
| Embodiment |
|
||
|
|
Yes | 6 | |
|
|
No | 6 | |
| Targeted disordersd |
|
||
|
|
Depression | 7 | |
|
|
Anxiety | 4 | |
|
|
Any mental disorder | 3 | |
|
|
Acrophobia | 1 | |
|
|
Stress | 1 | |
| Comparator |
|
||
|
|
Pretest vs posttest | ||
|
|
No intervention | 4 | |
|
|
Education | 3 | |
|
|
High users vs low users | 1 | |
| Measured outcomese |
|
||
|
|
Severity of depression | 6 | |
|
|
Psychological wellbeing | 3 | |
|
|
Severity of anxiety | 3 | |
|
|
Positive and negative affect | 2 | |
|
|
Distress | 2 | |
|
|
Stress | 2 | |
|
|
Safety | 2 | |
|
|
Severity of acrophobia | 1 | |
| Measuresf |
|
||
|
|
PHQ-9g | 4 | |
|
|
GAD-7h | 2 | |
|
|
PANASi | 2 | |
|
|
K10j | 2 | |
|
|
PSS-10k | 2 | |
|
|
AQl | 1 | |
|
|
HAD-Sm | 1 | |
|
|
OASISn | 1 | |
|
|
WHO-5-Jo | 1 | |
|
|
HIQp | 1 | |
|
|
BDI-2q | 1 | |
|
|
Adverse events | 2 | |
| Follow-up periodr |
|
||
|
|
2 weeks | 6 | |
|
|
4 weeks | 6 | |
|
|
6 weeks | 1 | |
|
|
12 weeks | 1 | |
aMean age was reported in 10 studies.
bSex was reported in 9 studies.
cNumbers do not add up as one study recruited the sample from more than one setting.
dNumbers do not add up as 4 chatbots focused on both depression and anxiety.
eNumbers do not add up as most studies assessed more than one outcome.
fNumbers do not add up as some studies used more than one tool to assess a single outcome and several studies have more than one outcome.
gPHQ-9: Patient Health Questionnaire.
hGAD-7: Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale.
iPANAS: Positive and Negative Affect Schedule.
jK10: Kessler Psychological Distress Scale.
kPSS-10: Perceived Stress Scale.
lAQ: Acrophobia Questionnaire.
mHAD-S: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
nOASIS: Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale.
oWHO-5-J: World Health Organization-5 Well-Being Index.
pHIQ: Heights Interpretation Questionnaire.
qBDI-2: Beck Depression Inventory II.
rNumbers do not add up as two studies assessed outcomes at 2 different points of time.