Chatbot Facilitated Education on Child and Adolescent Abuse

The Effectiveness of Chatbot Facilitated Education on Child and Adolescent Abuse for Nurses

The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of chatbot-facilitated education (CFE) in assisting nursing personnel to prevent child and adolescent abuse and neglect (CAN). The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does applying CFE enhance nurses' intention to report CAN?
2. Does applying CFE improve nurses' attitudes toward reporting CAN?
3. Does applying CFE increase nurses' knowledge of CAN?

Researchers will compare CFE to lecture-based teaching to verify if CFE can improve the nurses' competency of CAN.

Participants will:

1. Attend a CAN course for about 1.5 hours. The experimental group will use CFE, and the control group will only receive lecture-based teaching.
2. Have the CAN course, comprised of two main subjects: "CAN" and "Nurses' Roles and Functions in CAN".
3. Receive the learning effect assessment at three different time points: before the course, one week after, and four weeks after.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Child Abuse
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: lecture-based teaching; Other: chatbot facilitated teaching

Detailed Description

Based on the rigor of the study and the anticipated benefits to the participants, we will:

1. Commence participant enrollment only after the protocol has been reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation.
2. Conduct a minimum of four courses until the participant group reaches full capacity.
3. Ensure that participants are not informed about the specific interventions of the course at the time of their enrollment.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 98
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • Hualien County
    • Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan, 970374
      • Tzu Chi University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Nurses who

1. work in Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital
2. finish the probationary period, directly do the practical care
3. want to participate and sign the consent

Exclusion Criteria:

The nurses will be excluded if they are in an administrative position or withdraw the protocol for any reason.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Chatbot-facilitated education Group; The participants will receive a lecture on the CAN course with assistance from a chatbot. The instructor will pose questions to the participants, who will respond using the chatbot.	Other: chatbot facilitated teaching; The experimental group will use "chatbot" to facilitate teaching.
Active Comparator: Lecture-based teaching Group; The participants will only receive a lecture on the CAN course.	Other: lecture-based teaching; The control group only receives lecture-based teaching.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Intention to Report Child and Adolescent Abuse and Neglect	This subscale is part of the Child and Adolescent Abuse and Neglect (CAN) Competency Assessment. It comprises eight simulated child abuse scenarios, with participants rating their intention to report each case on an 11-point scale ranging from 0 (no intention to report) to 10 (definite intention to report). The total possible score is 80, with higher scores indicating a stronger and more consistent intention to report suspected CAN cases.	Pre-test (before the course), Post-test 1 (one week after), Post-test 2(four weeks after).
Attitude Toward Reporting Child and Adolescent Abuse and Neglect	This subscale is part of the Child and Adolescent Abuse and Neglect (CAN) Competency Assessment and consists of three sections: five items on attitudes toward child discipline, six items on perceptions of abusive parents, and seven items on professional responsibility in reporting child abuse, totaling 18 items. Participants rate each item on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). The maximum possible score is 108. Higher scores reflect more negative attitudes toward physical discipline, lower tolerance for abusive behavior by parents, and stronger endorsement of professional responsibility in reporting suspected child abuse.	Pre-test (before the course), Post-test 1 (one week after), Post-test 2(four weeks after).
Knowledge About Child and Adolescent Abuse and Neglect	This subscale is part of the Child and Adolescent Abuse and Neglect (CAN) Competency Assessment and includes 13 true-false items. Participants are instructed to respond with "true," "false," or "don't know" for each statement. Correct responses receive one point, while incorrect or "don't know" responses receive zero. The total possible score is 13, with higher scores indicating greater knowledge of CAN and its relevant legal framework.	Pre-test (before the course), Post-test 1 (one week after), Post-test 2(four weeks after).

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Tzu Chi University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Mei-Lin Hsieh, Tzu Chi University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 10, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 17, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): April 8, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 5, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 11, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): December 12, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 17, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 14, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: child and adolescent abuse and neglect (CAAN); chatbots; attitude toward reporting; intention to report
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB112-148-B

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Our study won't share the IPD with others. It has been written on the participants' consent.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No