Feasibility and Acceptability of W-GenZD vs CBT-light Teletherapy for Adolescents Seeking Mental Health Services

"Woebot for Adolescents (W-GenZD) is a mobile application program that delivers evidence-based therapy for the symptoms of mild-moderate depression and anxiety in adolescents in brief conversations with a fully automated relational agent called Woebot. It is a brief, self-guided 4 week-intervention that draws from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents (IPT-A), and elements of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), depending on the presenting situation, to help the adolescent develop emotion regulation skills in the context of their everyday life. In this way, the mobile application is designed to be targeted, relevant, and integrated into the lived experience of adolescents, capable of delivering the appropriate technique for the problem at hand, at the time of need."

The CBT-Lite teletherapy group is a brief, 4-week intervention held once weekly for an hour, and limited to those triaged into the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters low-intensity track and participating in this protocol. An assigned study clinician will facilitate each teletherapy group with approximately 10 adolescents in each session. Each group begins with orientation and reviewing group rules, individual check-ins with each participant (rating stress level and hopefulness), followed by a guided mindfulness moment. Sessions are designed to draw from elements of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and the 4 topics include: building a coping tool box, accepting your feelings, challenging negative thoughts, and problem solving.