Changes in self-compassion in an avatar deep-hearing environment for eating disorders: a randomized controlled trial.

JRCT ID: jRCT1030240369

Registered date:02/10/2024

Basic Information

• Recruitment status: Recruiting
• Health condition(s) or Problem(s) studied: A person who is in the hospital with a diagnosis of an eating disorder
• Date of first enrollment: 18/09/2024
• Target sample size: 24
• Study type: Interventional

Intervention(s)

Control group: Conduct face-to-face interviews
Participants in the face-to-face hearing group will be asked to have a conversation with the psychologist at the venue with a total of three people, along with two people who will participate in the study in addition to themselves. The content of the conversation is free to follow any theme presented by the psychologist (e.g., Introduce yourself and what happened this week).

Test group: Conduct avatar hearings
Participants in the Avatar Hearing Group were asked to operate a remote robot avatar in a private room using a PC, and to engage in conversation with three other participants, including the psychologist (who also remotely operated the robot avatar through the PC), through this robot avatar. As in the face-to-face interview group, the content of the conversation is free, based on the theme presented by the psychologist.

Outcome(s)

• Primary Outcome: The amount of change in the state self-compassion scale from baseline will be compared between the avatar hearing group and the face-to-face hearing group.

Secondary Outcome

The following indices will be compared between the avatar hearing group and the face-to-face hearing group
(1) Increment of heart rate index from baseline
Heart rate is used as an indicator to reflect the mental state, and given the tendency of heart rate to increase and heart rate variability to decrease in response to tension and stress states [9], it is expected that such variability is likely to occur in both groups in the dialogue situation in this study as well. In addition, the avatar hearing group is expected to be less tense than the face-to-face group due to communication via avatars, and the heart rate index fluctuation is expected to be smaller than that of the face-to-face hearing group.
(2) Speech information
Using recorded speech, the amount of speech relative to the overall hearing time is calculated. It is expected that a comfortable speaking environment will increase the amount of speech and shorten the reaction latency (in this study, the time between hearing the previous speaker's utterance and speaking).
(3) Increments in blood pressure from baseline
Although blood pressure increases in response to stress conditions, it is expected that the increment in blood pressure will be smaller in avatar hearings than in face-to-face hearings. By confirming this, we expect to be able to show that tension during speech is smaller in avatar hearings.
(4) Increments of oxytocin and alpha amylase from baseline
Both indices, which are considered to be more likely to increase with stress conditions, are expected to show smaller increments in blood pressure with avatar hearing than with face-to-face hearing. By confirming this, we expect to be able to show that tension during speech is smaller in avatar hearings.
(5) Skin conductance (SC) increment from baseline
It is expected that the increment of SC, which is considered to increase in response to anxiety and stress, will be smaller in the avatar hearing than in the face-to-face hearing. By confirming this, we expect to be able to show that tension during speech is smaller in avatar hearings.
(6) Anxiety Subjective Unit of Distress (SUD)
The participants are asked to answer on an 11-point scale (0-10) about their anxiety. By measuring the subjective aspect, we will confirm the consistency with the above physiological index and use it as one of the indices to verify that the avatar hearing is less tense during speech.

Key inclusion & exclusion criteria

• Age minimum: >= 18age old
• Age maximum: <= 29age old
• Gender: Both

Include criteria

1) Men and women between the ages of 18 and 29
2) Patients who are currently attending Yokohama City University Hospital or Yokohama City General Medical Center Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic with a diagnosis of an eating disorder.
3) Those who have given written consent

Exclude criteria

1) Those who have difficulty speaking Japanese
2) Those who have difficulty operating a computer
3) Those who are otherwise judged by a physician to be unsuitable for the program.

Related Information

• Primary Sponsor: Miyazaki Tomoyuki
• Source(s) of Monetary Support: Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)