Evaluating the Role of a Socially Assistive Robot in Children's Mental Health Care.
Socially assistive robots (SARs) present a promising intervention for addressing the increasing prevalence of childhood stress. This innovative technology has become increasingly common in practical implementation. However, empirical support has not kept pace with the robots' growing popularity. The...
| Published in: | Journal of Child & Family Studies Vol. 30; no. 7; pp. 1722 - 1736 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Jul2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=150822510&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 150822510 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 10621024 JFM jtl: Journal of Child & Family Studies issn: 10621024 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2021 vid: 30 iid: 7 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 150822510 10.1007/s10826-021-01977-5 ppf: 1722 ppct: 14 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 651KB tig: atl: Evaluating the Role of a Socially Assistive Robot in Children's Mental Health Care. aug: au: Kitt, Elizabeth R. Crossman, Molly K. Matijczak, Angela Burns, Gillian B. Kazdin, Alan E. affil: Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA su: Assistive technology Self-evaluation Mental health services Child behavior Robotics Treatment effectiveness Independent living sug: subj: Assistive technology Self-evaluation Mental health services Child behavior Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals Robotics Treatment effectiveness Independent living keyword: Child Intervention Mental health care Socially assistive robot Stress Child Intervention Mental health care Socially assistive robot Stress ab: Socially assistive robots (SARs) present a promising intervention for addressing the increasing prevalence of childhood stress. This innovative technology has become increasingly common in practical implementation. However, empirical support has not kept pace with the robots' growing popularity. The present study set out to provide an empirical test of the stress-buffering capability of this technology. We examined the effects of the presence of an SAR on self-reported measures of stress in a community sample of 70 children (40 girls, 30 boys) between the ages of 7 and 10 years old. Child participants were randomly assigned to either a robot-present or a robot-absent condition during the Trier Social Stress Test for Children. Contrary to our predictions, we did not detect a stress-buffering effect of the presence of the robot. Instead, the primary analysis showed that the robot's presence led to a larger decrease in positive affect following the task. However, further analyses found no significant difference in positive affect when accounting for baseline group differences. Exploratory analyses of the nature of children's interactions with the SAR during the stressful task found that higher levels of parent-reported social anxiety were associated with greater prosocial behaviors towards the SAR, thus signifying a potential target for future interventions. Further work on SARs is needed to determine the optimal timing and robotic specifications that would maximize the potential of this developing technology to improve children's mental health care. Highlights: We examined the ability of a socially assistive robot (SAR) to buffer against stress experienced by children. We did not detect expected benefits of the SAR for alleviating children's stress. We propose future research to examine the optimal use of SARs for children's stress. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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