Robots can spot mental health issues in children better than their parents, a new study from the University of Cambridge suggests.
A team of roboticists, computer scientists and psychiatrists carried out a study with more than two dozen 8 to 13-year-olds using a 60-centimetre-tall humanoid robot that asked them a series of standard psychological questions.
Researchers said the results showed a willingness of youngsters to confide in the android assessors, with some even sharing more information with the robot than they had in other standard assessments online or in-person.
“Since the robot we use is child-sized, and completely non-threatening, children might see the robot as a confidant — they feel like they won’t get into trouble if they share secrets with it,” said Nida Itrat Abbasi, a doctorate student and one of the authors of the study.
“Other researchers have found that children are more likely to divulge private information — like that they’re being bullied, for example — to a robot than they would be to an adult.”
The experiment was designed by Professor Hatice Gunes, who leads the affective intelligence and robotics laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Her colleagues from the department of psychiatry were also involved in the project to see if robots could be a useful tool to assess mental well-being in children.
Professor Gunes has been studying how socially-assistive robots can be used as mental well-being ‘coaches’ for adults. She said she became interested in how her work with robotics might overlap with children after becoming a mother.
“Children are quite tactile and they’re drawn to technology. If they’re using a screen-based tool, they’re withdrawn from the physical world. But robots are perfect because they’re in the physical world — they’re more interactive, so the children are more engaged.”
It was the first time that robots have been used to evaluate mental well-being in children. Twenty-eight each took part in a one-to-one 45-minute session with a humanoid robot while being observed from an adjacent room.
While not intended to be a substitute for professional mental health support, the researchers say robots could be a useful addition to traditional methods of mental health assessment.
“There are times when traditional methods aren’t able to catch mental well-being lapses in children, as sometimes the changes are incredibly subtle,” Ms Abbasi said. “We wanted to see whether robots might be able to help with this process.”
With a worrying rise in mental health issues among children, the robotic resource may be a welcome lifeline for increasingly concerned parents.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the knock-on consequences of home schooling and isolation from friends exacerbated an already disconcertingly high level of anxiety and depression among children in the UK.
A digital survey carried out by the National Health Service found that one in six children aged six to 16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem in July 2021, up from one in nine in 2017.
The number of emergency attendances by under-18-year-olds with a recorded diagnosis of a psychiatric condition more than tripled between 2010 and 2018-19 and worsened during the pandemic. Between December 2019 and April 2021, there was a 47 per cent increase in the number of new emergency referrals to crisis care teams in children.
Despite the severity and prevalence of the problem, resources and support to address mental well-being remain severely limited. In 2020/2021, only 23 per cent of children referred to services started treatment within the four-week waiting target.
In a report released in July, the Commission on Young Lives warned that post-Covid children’s mental health services are buckling under pressure to cope with the explosion of demand for help.
Anne Longfield, chair of the commission and former children’s commissioner for England, called on Britain’s next prime minister to pledge a “once-in-a-generation” post-Covid £1 billion ($1.16bn) recovery package of support “to make England’s children’s mental health services fit for purpose.”
The results of the University of Cambridge study were set to be presented on Wednesday in Naples, Italy, at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
More on animal trafficking
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
If you go...
Flying
There is no simple way to get to Punta Arenas from the UAE, with flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi requiring at least two connections to reach this part of Patagonia. Flights start from about Dh6,250.
Touring
Chile Nativo offers the amended Los Dientes trek with expert guides and porters who are met in Puerto Williams on Isla Navarino. The trip starts and ends in Punta Arenas and lasts for six days in total. Prices start from Dh8,795.
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
RESULT
RS Leipzig 3
Marcel Sabitzer 10', 21'
Emil Forsberg 87'
Tottenham 0
