Chatbots and mental health: a scoping review of reviews

The use of chatbots for mental health is now frequently discussed as a means to increase access to mental health resources. For this scoping review of reviews on chatbots for mental health, we performed a systematic search of the literature on Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and Dimensions.ai and identified 14 relevant reviews published in scientific journals which identified publications following a systematic search of two or more databases. Three additional relevant reviews were included following forward and backward reference examination. The 17 included reviews are: eight systematic reviews (three with meta-analysis), seven scoping reviews and two unlabeled reviews. We have summarized the scope of the reviews as well as their findings. Most reviews included at least one study with 15 participants or fewer. Few reviews report a significant proportion of randomized controlled trials and some original publications most of the time report on piloting studies. Overall, the reviews examine the opinions of users of chatbots, the features of chatbots, the outcomes and measures in studies relying on chatbots, the effectiveness of chatbots (particularly the meta-analyses) in alleviating mental disorder symptomatology as well as their potential for the assessment of mental health. The use of machine learning and natural language processing frameworks (Dialogflow, RASA) seems to drive an increasing number of studies of chatbots for mental health, but progress is necessary in several areas affecting interaction dynamics.