SimCoach Evaluation: A Virtual Human Intervention to Encourage Servicemember Help-seeking for PTSD and Depression

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Depression; Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
• Interventions: Behavioral: SimCoach

• Registration Number: NCT02335528
• Lead Sponsor: RAND

Brief Summary

SimCoach, a computer program featuring a virtual human that speaks and gestures in a videogame-like interface, is designed to encourage servicemembers, especially those with signs or symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression, to seek help to improve their psychological health. The assessment included a formative component assessing SimCoach's design, development, and implementation approaches, as well as a summative component assessing outcomes among participants in a user experience survey and a randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2012-10
• Primary Completion: 2013-03
• Study Completion: 2013-03
• Status Verified: 2015-01
• Study First Submitted: 2015-01-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2015-01-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2015-01-08
• Study First Posted: 2015-01-09
• Last Update Posted: 2015-01-09

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 333

Inclusion Criteria

• 18 years of age and
• active duty or Reserve servicemember or National Guard servicemember and
• being off duty

Exclusion Criteria

• under the age of 18 years
• retired servicemember or not a servicemember
• currently on duty
• currently incarcerated, on parole, or on probation

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
SimCoach intervention	SimCoach	Participants randomized to the SimCoach intervention arm interacted with "Bill Ford," a simulated human (avatar) enacted in the SimCoach program. This white male avatar representing himself as an Army veteran who spoke to participants in a conversational manner. Participants interacted with him using a chat interface, where they could type responses to him. Bill Ford asked participants a series of questions that corresponded to validated PTSD or depression screening questionnaires. SimCoach then provided personalized recommendations for a symptom if the user reported experiencing the symptom at one of the two highest frequencies on the response scale. These recommendations consisted of a behavioral recommendation with an accompanying link to a website or online article on the topic.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Perceived barriers to care	within 30 days	Subjects were asked about their perceptions of both stigma-related and practical barriers to seeking help.
Help-seeking intentions	within 30 days	Participants were asked the following question: "How likely is it that you will seek help for issues such as stress, emotional, alcohol, drug, or family problems from the following people in the next month?" and responded using a Likert scale ranging from 1=extremely unlikely to 7=extremely likely.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
User experience	Immediately following their interaction with SimCoach or online form (up to 5 min)	Participants responded to questions about their experience with the tool or the online form.