Enhancing emotion regulation with an in-situ socially assistive robot among LGBTQ+ youth with self-harm ideation: Protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Williams, A. J., Cleare, S. , Borschmann, R., Tench, C. R., Gross, J., Hollis, C., Chapman-Nisar, A., Naeche, N., Townsend, E. and Slovak, P. (2024) Enhancing emotion regulation with an in-situ socially assistive robot among LGBTQ+ youth with self-harm ideation: Protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open, 14(1), e079801. (doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-079801) (PMID:38195171)

Abstract

Introduction: Purrble, a socially assistive robot, was codesigned with children to support in situ emotion regulation. Preliminary evidence has found that LGBTQ+ youth are receptive to Purrble and find it to be an acceptable intervention to assist with emotion dysregulation and their experiences of self-harm. The present study is designed to evaluate the impact of access to Purrble among LGBTQ+ youth who have self-harmful thoughts, when compared with waitlist controls. Methods and analysis: The study is a single-blind, randomised control trial comparing access to the Purrble robot with waitlist control. A total of 168 LGBTQ+ youth aged 16–25 years with current self-harmful ideation will be recruited, all based within the UK. The primary outcome is emotion dysregulation (Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale-8) measured weekly across a 13-week period, including three pre-deployment timepoints. Secondary outcomes include self-harm (Self-Harm Questionnaire), anxiety (Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7) and depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9). We will conduct analyses using linear mixed models to assess primary and secondary hypotheses. Intervention participants will have unlimited access to Purrble over the deployment period, which can be used as much or as little as they like. After all assessments, control participants will receive their Purrble, with all participants keeping the robot after the end of the study. After the study has ended, a subset of participants will be invited to participate in semistructured interviews to explore engagement and appropriation of Purrble, considering the young people’s own views of Purrble as an intervention device. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was received from King’s College London (RESCM-22/23-34570). Findings will be disseminated in peer review open access journals and at academic conferences. Trial registration number: NCT06025942.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding This study is funded by the UKRI MRC Digital Youth (MR/W002450/1) and the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/T041897/1).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cleare, Dr Seonaid
• Authors: Williams, A. J., Cleare, S., Borschmann, R., Tench, C. R., Gross, J., Hollis, C., Chapman-Nisar, A., Naeche, N., Townsend, E., and Slovak, P.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Journal Name: BMJ Open
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• ISSN: 2044-6055
• ISSN (Online): 2044-6055
• Published Online: 09 January 2024
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024
• First Published: First published in BMJ Open 14(1):e079801
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license