Therapeutic engagement in robot-assisted psychological interventions: A systematic review

Effectiveness of Psychological Interventions in Improving Relationship Functioning Among Couples Coping With Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

There is an increasing amount of literature acknowledging the significance of addressing the psychosocial impact of prostate cancer (PCa) on couples' relationship functioning and well-being. However, research on developing and evaluating psychological interventions for individuals and couples coping with PCa remains limited. This systematic review aimed to critically evaluate and synthesise the effectiveness of psychological interventions in improving the relationship functioning of couples affected by PCa and to identify the moderating role of several methodological characteristics of intervention studies.

METHODS

Five databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, Global Health, and Cochrane Library were searched up to September 2024. Twenty-three studies with randomised trials and a total sample size of 3333 participants were included. Random effects meta-analyses for relationship functioning, sensitivity analysis for outliers, and publication bias analysis were conducted.

RESULTS

The results showed that psychological interventions had a non-significant trivial effect (g = 0.06, p = 0.328) on improving relationship functioning among couples coping with PCa. Subgroup analyses identified two potential moderators: firstly, the intervention format (conjoint vs. individual; p = 0.005), and secondly, the intervention frequency (session number < 6 vs. session number ≥ 6; p = 0.004).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that more high-quality intervention studies are needed to improve the relationship functioning of those affected by PCa, with screening processes to select more representative samples at entry. The implications for clinical practice highlight the need to tailor interventions to the specific needs of couples coping with PCa.

Exploring the impact of socially assistive robots on health and wellbeing across the lifespan: An umbrella review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Socially assistive robots offer an alternate source of connection for interventions within health and social care amidst a landscape of technological advancement and reduced staff capacity. There is a need to summarise the available systematic reviews on the health and wellbeing impacts to evaluate effectiveness, explore potential moderators and mediators, and identify recommendations for future research and practice.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the effect of socially assistive robots within health and social care on psychosocial, behavioural, and physiological health and wellbeing outcomes across the lifespan (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023423862).

DESIGN

An umbrella review utilising meta-analysis, narrative synthesis, and vote counting by direction of effect.

METHODS

14 databases were searched (ProQuest Health Research Premium collection, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, ASM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, Cochrane Reviews, and EPISTEMONIKOS) from 2005 to May 4, 2023. Systematic reviews including the effects of socially assistive robots on health outcomes were included and a pooled meta-analysis, vote counting by direction of effect, and narrative synthesis were applied. The second version of A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews (AMSTAR-2) was applied to assess quality of included reviews.

RESULTS

35 reviews were identified, most focusing on older adults with or without dementia (n = 24). Pooled meta-analysis indicated no effect of socially assistive robots on quality of life (standard mean difference (SMD) = 0.43), anxiety (SMD = -0.02), or depression (SMD = 0.21), although vote counting identified significant improvements in social interaction, mood, positive affect, loneliness, stress, and pain across the lifespan, and narrative synthesis identified an improvement in anxiety in children. However, some reviews reported no significant difference between the effects of socially assistive robots and a plush toy, and there was no effect of socially assistive robots on psychiatric outcomes including agitation, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and medication use.

DISCUSSION

Socially assistive robots show promise for improving non-psychiatric outcomes such as loneliness, positive affect, stress, and pain, but exert no effect on psychiatric outcomes such as depression and agitation. The main mechanism of effect within group settings appeared to be the stimulation of social interaction with other humans. Limitations include the low quality and high amount of overlap between included reviews.

CONCLUSION

Socially assistive robots may help to improve loneliness, social interaction, and positive affect in older adults, decrease anxiety and distress in children, and improve mood, stress, and reduce pain across the lifespan. However, before recommendations for socially assistive robots can be made, a cost-effectiveness analysis of socially assistive robots to improve mood across the lifespan, and a quantitative analysis of the effects on pain, anxiety, and distress in children are required.

Research Hotspots and Trends of Social Robot Interaction Design: A Bibliometric Analysis

(1) Background: Social robot interaction design is crucial for determining user acceptance and experience. However, few studies have systematically discussed the current focus and future research directions of social robot interaction design from a bibliometric perspective. Therefore, we conducted this study in order to identify the latest research progress and evolution trajectory of research hotspots in social robot interaction design over the last decade. (2) Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review based on 2416 papers related to social robot interaction design obtained from the Web of Science (WOS) database. Our review utilized bibliometric techniques and integrated VOSviewer and CiteSpace to construct a knowledge map. (3) Conclusions: The current research hotspots of social robot interaction design mainly focus on #1 the study of human-robot relationships in social robots, #2 research on the emotional design of social robots, #3 research on social robots for children's psychotherapy, #4 research on companion robots for elderly rehabilitation, and #5 research on educational social robots. The reference co-citation analysis identifies the classic literature that forms the basis of the current research, which provides theoretical guidance and methods for the current research. Finally, we discuss several future research directions and challenges in this field.

Effects of Robot-Assisted Activity Using a Communication Robot on Neurological Activity in Older Adults with and without Cognitive Decline

Robot-assisted activity (RAA) using a communication robot (RAA-CR) has been proposed as a tool for alleviating behavioral and psychological symptoms accompanying dementia (BPSD) in patients with cognitive decline. This study aimed to clarify the effects of differences in cognitive function among older adults on changes in active brain areas induced by RAA-CR. Twenty-nine older adults were divided into a cognitive decline group (n = 11) and a control group (n = 18). The participants individually received a 5-minute RAA session, and their resting EEG activity was measured before and after the session. Brain spatial analysis was performed on recorded EEG data using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography. In addition, statistical comparisons of neural activity in the brain were made before and after RAA-CR and between the cognitively impaired and control groups. These results suggest that RAA-CR stimulates neural activity in the region centered on the posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus in cognitively healthy older adults but does not significantly alter brain neural activity in cognitively impaired older adults. Therefore, modifications to the implementation methods may be necessary to effectively implement RAA-CR in cognitively impaired individuals.

Android Robot Promotes Disclosure of Negative Narratives by Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate some challenges with personal narrative writing. Sentence completion tests (SCT) is a class of semi-structured projective techniques and encourage respondents to disclose their private narratives. Even in SCT, only providing beginning of sentences is inadequate to compensate atypicalities in their creativity and imagination, and self-disclosure is difficult for many individuals with ASD. It is reported that many individuals with ASD often achieve a higher degree of task engagement through interactions with robots and that robotic systems may be useful in eliciting and promoting social communication such as self-disclosure for some individuals with ASD. There is a possibility that exemplification by android robots in place of human interviewers can result in a higher degree of task engagement for individuals with ASD. The objective of this study was to investigate whether additional exemplifications by android robots in the SCT can prompt self-disclosure for individuals with ASD. We compared the difference in disclosure statements and subjective emotion in the testing paper of the SCT in additional exemplification by an android robot and a human interviewer. In addition, we assessed the disclosure statements and subjective emotions in the SCT, for which exemplifications were written on testing paper to make the comparison. Our quantitative data suggested that exemplification by android robot promoted more self-disclosure, especially about the negative topic compared to exemplification by a human interviewer and that written on test paper. In addition, the level of participant embarrassment in response to exemplification by the android robot seemed to be lower compared to that in the human interviewer condition. In the assessment and support for individuals with ASD, eliciting self-disclosure is a pressing issue. It is hoped that the appropriate use of robots will lead to a better understanding and support for their application.

Differences in the Optimal Motion of Android Robots for the Ease of Communications Among Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Android robots are employed in various fields. Many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have the motivation and aptitude for using such robots. Interactions with these robots are structured to resemble social situations in which certain social behaviors can occur and to simulate daily life. Considering that individuals with ASD have strong likes and dislikes, ensuring not only the optimal appearance but also the optimal motion of robots is important to achieve smooth interaction and to draw out the potential of robotic interventions. We investigated whether individuals with ASD found it easier to talk to an android robot with little motion (i.e., only opening and closing its mouth during speech) or an android robot with much motion (i.e., in addition to opening and closing its mouth during speech, moving its eyes from side to side and up and down, blinking, deeply breathing, and turning or moving its head or body at random). This was a crossover study in which a total of 25 participants with ASD experienced mock interviews conducted by an android robot with much spontaneous facial and bodily motion and an android robot with little motion. We compared demographic data between participants who answered that the android robot with much motion was easier to talk to than android robot with little motion and those who answered the opposite. In addition, we investigated how each type of demographic data was related to participants' feeling of comfort in an interview setting with an android robot. Fourteen participants indicated that the android robot with little motion was easier to talk to than the robot with much motion, whereas 11 participants answered the opposite. There were significant differences between these two groups in the sensory sensitivity score, which reflects the tendency to show a low neurological threshold. In addition, we found correlations between the sensation seeking score, which reflects the tendency to show a high neurological threshold, and self-report ratings of comfort in each condition. These results provide preliminary support for the importance of setting the motion of an android robot considering the sensory traits of ASD.