Oral Presentation ESA-SRB-APEG-NZSE 2022

What do adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes and their healthcare professionals think of a self-compassion chatbot to improve wellbeing? (#68)

Anna L Boggiss 1 , Nathan S Consedine 1 , Sarah A Hopkins 1 , Connor Silvester 2 , Craig Jefferies 3 , Paul L Hofman 3 , Anna S Serlachius 1
  1. Department of Psychological Medicine, The University of Auckland, Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand
  2. ProActive Health, Tauranga City, New Zealand
  3. Liggins Institue, The University of Auckland, Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand

Introduction: Adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) experience psychological distress at greater rates than their peers (1) and are also at greater risk of complications and sub-optimal glycemic control compared to younger children and adults (2). With the COVID-19 pandemic adding restrictions to traditional psychological supports, chatbots offer a unique modality to remotely deliver psychological tools. Building from previous work (3-5), our research group developed a novel self-compassion chatbot (called COMPASS) for adolescents aged 12 to 16-years-old with T1D.

Objectives: A qualitative focus group study evaluated the acceptability and clinical usability of the self-compassion chatbot among adolescents with T1D and their healthcare professionals.

Methods: Nineteen adolescents and eleven diabetes team healthcare professionals took part in qualitative Zoom interviews in March and April 2022. Transcripts were analysed using directed content analysis to examine the features and content of greatest importance across groups.

Results: Findings highlighted what adolescents with T1D and their healthcare professionals see as the advantages of a self-compassion chatbot intervention and desired future additions, including a safe peer-to-peer sense of community, personalisation, self-management support to reduce diabetes-related burdens, clinical utility, and breadth and flexibility of tools.

Conclusions: The study suggests that a self-compassion chatbot for adolescents with T1D is acceptable, relevant to common difficulties, and offers clinical utility. Common desired features across both groups included appropriate peer support elements, integration with diabetes technologies, assistance with problem-solving, and broadening the representation of different cultures and lived experience stories to further improve the chatbot. Based on these findings, the COMPASS chatbot intervention is currently being adapted to be tested in a future feasibility study.

  1. Reynolds, K. A., & Helgeson, V. S. (2011). Children with diabetes compared to peers: depressed? Distressed? A meta-analytic review. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 42(1), 29-41.
  2. Moore, S. M., Hackworth, N. J., Hamilton, V. E., Northam, E. P., & Cameron, F. J. (2013). Adolescents with type 1 diabetes: parental perceptions of child health and family functioning and their relationship to adolescent metabolic control. Health and quality of life outcomes, 11(1), 1-8.
  3. Boggiss, A. L., Consedine, N. S., Jefferies, C., Bluth, K., Hofman, P. L., & Serlachius, A. S. (2020). Protocol for a feasibility study: a brief self-compassion intervention for adolescents with type 1 diabetes and disordered eating. BMJ open, 10(2), e034452.
  4. Boggiss, A. L., Consedine, N. S., Schache, K. R., Wallace‐Boyd, K., Cao, N., Hofman, P. L., & Serlachius, A. S. (2021). Exploring the views of adolescents with type 1 diabetes on digital mental health interventions: What functionality and content do they want?. Diabetic Medicine, 38(11), e14591.
  5. Boggiss, A. L., Consedine, N. S., Schache, K. R., Jefferies, C., Bluth, K., Hofman, P. L., & Serlachius, A. S. (2020). A brief self‐compassion intervention for adolescents with type 1 diabetes and disordered eating: a feasibility study. Diabetic Medicine, 37(11), 1854-1860.