The University Of Texas At Austin receives $246K Nursing Research grant from the National Institutes of Health

She-bot: developing an ai chatbot to support u.s.-based women of chinese origin experiencing intimate partner violence - abstract intimate partner violence (ipv) poses significant social and health challenges, particularly affecting women who confront increased risk and adverse consequences. Women of chinese origin in the u.s. Experienced a high prevalence of ipv, reaching nearly 21% within the past year. They have very limited access to ipv and mental health services, due to sociocultural barriers such as shame, limited english proficiency, isolation from mainstream american society, unfamiliarity with available resources, and a lack of linguistically and culturally appropriate services. Ipv’s substantial and well-documented effects on mental health further exacerbate the challenges faced by this population. However, there is a lack of culturally appropriate interventions that address these barriers, while improving their acceptability and accessibility, to help women of chinese origin cope with ipv and meet their mental health needs. To fill this gap, our intervention, self-compassion, health, and empowerment (she), is designed to empower women of chinese origin to increase their safety, control, and self-efficacy and better cope with ipv. This intervention uniquely incorporates mental health elements, including relaxation and self-compassion meditation, to reduce depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) symptoms. To streamline intervention implementation and enhance sustainability and scalability, we propose developing an artificial intelligence (ai) chatbot to deliver the she intervention. This approach addresses barriers to seeking help, such as geographic dispersal, shame, privacy concerns, and the critical shortage of chinese community workers. The goals of the study are to develop and test an ai chatbot for delivering the she intervention. For aim 1, we will conduct 4 focus group interviews to gather input from women of chinese origin experiencing ipv on their cultural and linguistic needs, conversational preferences, and perceptions of usability and safety. We will then leverage a large language model to develop an ai chatbot to facilitate the she intervention. The chatbot will be further refined based on the evaluation within the team. For aim 2, we will conduct the usability testing of the chatbot with the same participants from the focus group interviews. For aim 3, we will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the ai chatbot- facilitated she intervention in reducing primary outcomes of depression, anxiety, and ptsd symptoms and the secondary outcome of ipv among women of chinese origin experiencing ipv. Our innovative approach for this population has a high potential for scaling up and increasing access to ipv and mental health support among women of chinese origin experiencing ipv.