Mental Health Professionals’ Views on Artificial Intelligence as an Aide for Children Anticipating or Suffering the Loss of a Parent to Cancer: Helpful or Harmful?
<b>Purpose</b>: Assess mental health professionals’ attitudes regarding the timing and characteristics of therapeutic interventions for children whose parents have incurable cancer, and whether professionals would use artificial intelligence (AI) in these interventions. <b>Methods&...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Children |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/6/763 |
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| author | Mary Rose Yockel Marcelo M. Sleiman Heather Doherty Rachel Adams Kimberly M. Davis Hunter Groninger Christina Sharkey Matthew G. Biel Muriel R. Statman Kenneth P. Tercyak |
| author_facet | Mary Rose Yockel Marcelo M. Sleiman Heather Doherty Rachel Adams Kimberly M. Davis Hunter Groninger Christina Sharkey Matthew G. Biel Muriel R. Statman Kenneth P. Tercyak |
| author_sort | Mary Rose Yockel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <b>Purpose</b>: Assess mental health professionals’ attitudes regarding the timing and characteristics of therapeutic interventions for children whose parents have incurable cancer, and whether professionals would use artificial intelligence (AI) in these interventions. <b>Methods</b>: Professionals were surveyed about their therapeutic approaches to caring for children when parents have incurable cancer under different scenarios. Data from N = 294 (69% male, 72% white, 26% Latine, 56% rural or underserved communities) physicians, psychologists, social workers, hospital chaplains, community health workers, and others were analyzed. Attitudes surrounding the timing and characteristics of interventions across the parent’s cancer journey were compared, including how professionals believed interventions should attend to dimensions of the child or family, and if, how, and when AI technology could be introduced. <b>Results</b>: Across 10 dimensions of childhood, (1) the child’s premorbid exposure to traumatic events, (2) a surviving parent’s presence, and (3) the child’s age were important factors to consider when making mental health care decisions in this context. The professionals reported being more likely to introduce therapeutic resources as early as possible in the parent’s illness (i.e., upon diagnosis). Regarding the use of AI, 87% foresaw its role in supporting children’s mental health. While 93.2% agreed that a grieving child could be helped by interacting with an AI-generated likeness of the deceased parent, when AI’s use was contextualized in providing support for a child who lost a parent to cancer, only 49% believed AI was appropriate. The participants were conflicted over when AI could be first introduced, either upon a parent’s illness diagnosis (19.4%), during a parent’s treatment (19.0%), or as part of a parent’s hospice care (12.6%). None believed it to be appropriate following the loss of the parent to cancer. <b>Conclusions</b>: AI is increasingly present in children’s daily lives and quickly infiltrating health care with widely accessible mental health chatbots. Concerns about privacy, the accuracy of information, and the anthropomorphism of AI tools by children give professionals pause before introducing such technology. Proceeding with great caution is urged until more is known about the impact of AI on children’s mental health, grief, and psychological well-being in the context of parental cancer. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1d99792aee0f4a7ea44a50368cb5adcc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2227-9067 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Children |
| spelling | doaj-art-1d99792aee0f4a7ea44a50368cb5adcc2025-08-20T03:26:21ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672025-06-0112676310.3390/children12060763Mental Health Professionals’ Views on Artificial Intelligence as an Aide for Children Anticipating or Suffering the Loss of a Parent to Cancer: Helpful or Harmful?Mary Rose Yockel0Marcelo M. Sleiman1Heather Doherty2Rachel Adams3Kimberly M. Davis4Hunter Groninger5Christina Sharkey6Matthew G. Biel7Muriel R. Statman8Kenneth P. Tercyak9Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USALombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USALombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USASection of Palliative Care, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC 20007, USALombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USASection of Palliative Care, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC 20010, USADepartment of Psychology, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USADivision of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC 20007, USALombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USALombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA<b>Purpose</b>: Assess mental health professionals’ attitudes regarding the timing and characteristics of therapeutic interventions for children whose parents have incurable cancer, and whether professionals would use artificial intelligence (AI) in these interventions. <b>Methods</b>: Professionals were surveyed about their therapeutic approaches to caring for children when parents have incurable cancer under different scenarios. Data from N = 294 (69% male, 72% white, 26% Latine, 56% rural or underserved communities) physicians, psychologists, social workers, hospital chaplains, community health workers, and others were analyzed. Attitudes surrounding the timing and characteristics of interventions across the parent’s cancer journey were compared, including how professionals believed interventions should attend to dimensions of the child or family, and if, how, and when AI technology could be introduced. <b>Results</b>: Across 10 dimensions of childhood, (1) the child’s premorbid exposure to traumatic events, (2) a surviving parent’s presence, and (3) the child’s age were important factors to consider when making mental health care decisions in this context. The professionals reported being more likely to introduce therapeutic resources as early as possible in the parent’s illness (i.e., upon diagnosis). Regarding the use of AI, 87% foresaw its role in supporting children’s mental health. While 93.2% agreed that a grieving child could be helped by interacting with an AI-generated likeness of the deceased parent, when AI’s use was contextualized in providing support for a child who lost a parent to cancer, only 49% believed AI was appropriate. The participants were conflicted over when AI could be first introduced, either upon a parent’s illness diagnosis (19.4%), during a parent’s treatment (19.0%), or as part of a parent’s hospice care (12.6%). None believed it to be appropriate following the loss of the parent to cancer. <b>Conclusions</b>: AI is increasingly present in children’s daily lives and quickly infiltrating health care with widely accessible mental health chatbots. Concerns about privacy, the accuracy of information, and the anthropomorphism of AI tools by children give professionals pause before introducing such technology. Proceeding with great caution is urged until more is known about the impact of AI on children’s mental health, grief, and psychological well-being in the context of parental cancer.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/6/763children’s bereavementmental health interventionsparental cancerartificial intelligence |
| spellingShingle | Mary Rose Yockel Marcelo M. Sleiman Heather Doherty Rachel Adams Kimberly M. Davis Hunter Groninger Christina Sharkey Matthew G. Biel Muriel R. Statman Kenneth P. Tercyak Mental Health Professionals’ Views on Artificial Intelligence as an Aide for Children Anticipating or Suffering the Loss of a Parent to Cancer: Helpful or Harmful? Children children’s bereavement mental health interventions parental cancer artificial intelligence |
| title | Mental Health Professionals’ Views on Artificial Intelligence as an Aide for Children Anticipating or Suffering the Loss of a Parent to Cancer: Helpful or Harmful? |
| title_full | Mental Health Professionals’ Views on Artificial Intelligence as an Aide for Children Anticipating or Suffering the Loss of a Parent to Cancer: Helpful or Harmful? |
| title_fullStr | Mental Health Professionals’ Views on Artificial Intelligence as an Aide for Children Anticipating or Suffering the Loss of a Parent to Cancer: Helpful or Harmful? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mental Health Professionals’ Views on Artificial Intelligence as an Aide for Children Anticipating or Suffering the Loss of a Parent to Cancer: Helpful or Harmful? |
| title_short | Mental Health Professionals’ Views on Artificial Intelligence as an Aide for Children Anticipating or Suffering the Loss of a Parent to Cancer: Helpful or Harmful? |
| title_sort | mental health professionals views on artificial intelligence as an aide for children anticipating or suffering the loss of a parent to cancer helpful or harmful |
| topic | children’s bereavement mental health interventions parental cancer artificial intelligence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/6/763 |
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