use of a generative ai (gen-ai) chatbot for anxiety and depression among persons with cannabis use

Conditions: Cannabis Use Disorder; Anxiety; Depression, Anxiety; Depression - Major Depressive Disorder

Summary: the goal of this clinical trial is to learn if therabot-calm (cannabis, anxiety, low mood) has acceptability among users and could work to improve the symptoms of persons with cannabis use disorder and anxiety and/or depression. the main question it aims to answer is: what is the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of therabot-calm in persons with cannabis use disorder and anxiety and/or depression? participants will * take a screening questionnaire * participate in two virtual 1-hour interviews to provide feedback on app design and suggest features. * engage with therabot-calm in a 4-week clinical trial and provide feedback on their app experience in a third virtual interview

participants will complete a two-stage screening process via redcap to determine their eligibility for enrollment. participants who meet criteria and provide informed consent will be enrolled and participate in three interviews and the 4-week clinical trial. after the first interview, researchers will fine-tune therabot-calm based on feedback received during the interview. after the second interview, experts by experience (ebes) will engage with therabot-calm at least once per day for 4 weeks. after the clinical trial period, participants will receive an email with a link to complete the post-intervention measures delivered via redcap, including the system usability scale (sus), treatment acceptability and adherence scale (taas), cannabis use disorders identification test - revised (cudit-r), the daily sessions, frequency, age of onset, and quantity of cannabis use inventory (dfaq-cu), the 9-item patient health questionnaire for depression (phq-9), and the 7-item generalized anxiety disorder screener for dsm-5 (gad-7). participants will then be asked to return for a third interview to provide feedback on their experience with therabot-calm. researchers will use the ideas (innovate, develop, evaluate, adapt, scale) impact framework to plan and conduct three, one-on-one interviews with a trained research assistant (ra). each interview script will be developed using the ideas impact framework and follow a semi-structured design, such that the ra will follow a set of questions, with as-needed probing for follow-up. interviews will be recorded via a virtual platform.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * is 18 years or older. * meet criteria for current cud (cudit-r\>=12) and mdd (phq-9\>=10), and/or gad (gad-7\>=10). * have reliable access to the internet and a compatible device for therabot-calm. * have willingness and capacity to provide informed consent and commit to participating in all assessments and interventions during the study. * attend the first interview. exclusion criteria: * moderate to high risk of stbs as determined by the c-ssrs or baseline questionnaires. * current psychosis (as determined by brief psychosis screen). * current participation in another digital mental health intervention.

Keywords: artifical intelligence generative ai generative artificial intelligence therabot therabot-calm cannabis use disorder anxiety depression chatbot cannabis use drug abuse drug use drug use disorder interview screening application redcap post-intervention measures system usability scale treatment acceptability and adherence scale cannabis use disorders identification test - revised cannabis use disorders identification test quantity of cannabis use inventory patient health questionnaire for depression generalized anxiety disorder screener dsm-5 zoom