The large research consortium is investigating the use of interactive and gamification-based technologies in the psychotherapeutic treatment of children. What does this mean in concrete terms?
Fabian Arntz: The 13 participating projects are developing specific applications for diagnoses such as depression, anxiety disorders, and autism. One project, for example, is creating an app primarily intended for older children. It features a chatbot – a voice assistant – they can talk to alongside their psychotherapy. Another project tries to solve this in a more playful way, using a teddy bear equipped with the necessary technology. The teddy bear becomes a contact person.
Maxi Woelke: With the help of the stuffed animals, children can create a kind of fantasy world, reflect on and express their needs in a playful way. This can also be used while children are still waiting for a therapy spot – a kind of therapy before therapy.
Today, children spend many hours a day looking at their mobile phones. Why do you think this method is so promising?
Arntz: Precisely for this reason. Using a mobile phone is part of children’s everyday lives. Psychotherapeutic interventions usually require them to come to a doctor’s office and meet with a therapist. But these services are not always available.
Is funding by the Federal Ministry of Research a response to the serious shortages in psychotherapeutic care?
Arntz: Yes, it is. The smartphone-based application also reaches more children who would otherwise not visit a therapist’s practice. It also makes it possible to document observations in everyday life between therapy sessions and to initiate necessary interventions.
How far is the development?
Arntz: All these technologies are still under development.
Woelke: It is a proof-of-concept study. This means that the research institutes and participating companies have developed a concept that now needs to be tested on a small number of people. Each study will involve a maximum of 30-40 children. Only when it becomes clear that individual concepts work will we apply for further funding.
Arntz: Some projects are already relatively advanced. The technology is in place, the researchers know what and how they want to test it, and they are currently writing their ethics applications. The next step will be to recruit participating children, parents, and therapists.
What is the role of the University of Potsdam?
Arntz: Among other things, we are responsible for evaluation. We compile what the 13 projects are investigating in their respective target groups. And we ask: Is it effective, and if so, how effective? We base our assessment on a very general understanding of mental health and examine whether the respective interventions have helped the children. However, we must keep in mind that some projects are not aimed at improvement but rather at preventing deterioration.
How can you measure that?
Arntz: We use a mental health questionnaire to assess general levels of stress, depression, and impulsive behavior. Children aged 11 and older can answer these questions themselves; for younger children, we ask their parents. We want to encourage the individual projects to use these tests as well and to provide us with their data. This would enable us to reach a larger number of children – around 450.
Woelke: By way of background: we actually criticize the current diagnostic system. A child goes to the doctor, takes an ADHD test, and is labeled – “You have ADHD and will be treated accordingly,” sometimes even with medication. But an extremely introverted girl can have ADHD just as much as a very extroverted boy. We are trying to move away from diagnoses and toward specific symptoms.
The University of Potsdam is also responsible for the science communication. What do you want to bring to the public, and how?
Woelke: We want to raise awareness of how differently children behave and that digital applications, if scientifically researched and monitored, can contribute to mental health. We are planning a website for this purpose. We want to engage with stakeholders and the public on Instagram. In addition to an annual conference, there will also be a podcast series.
Are there specific ethical challenges because you are conducting research with children?
Arntz: In addition to data protection, there is the fact that children interact with AI-generated characters. AI is a kind of black box. The projects have no absolute control over the output the children receive. Navigating this is the biggest challenge.
Woelke: There is also the question of at what age children should be allowed to undergo therapy supplemented by technological devices. Even the question of how much screen time is healthy provokes huge debate in society. This time would increase with additional therapeutic use.
Are there already initial results?
Arntz: Not yet. AI technologies are generally still under development.
What could the application of this digital technology in psychotherapy look like in five or ten years?
Arntz: The vision is that we are able to show that the app has a positive effect on children and improves their mental health, and that we can integrate the technology into their everyday lives and use it in their care so that as many children as possible receive this support – both those with therapy places and those on waiting lists. It would be very forward-looking if children living in socioeconomically precarious situations or in rural areas could also use the service. To achieve this, the entire concept would need to be widely known in society, no longer taboo, and broadly accepted.
What would you wish for from politicians and the public?
Arntz: Better psychotherapeutic care. And open and honest interest.
Fabian Arntz is a research assistant and postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University of Potsdam.
Maxi Woelke is a research assistant at the Chair of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University of Potsdam.
Link to the collaborative research group of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space “Interaktive und Gamification-basierte Technologien zur Förderung der psychischen Gesundheit im Kindesalter” (GamKi) (“Interactive and Gamification-Based Technologies for the Promotion of Mental Health in Childhood”): https://www.interaktive-technologien.de/foerderung/bekanntmachungen/gamki
This text was published in the university magazine Portal - Zwei 2025 „Demokratie“. (in German)
Here You can find all articles in English at a glance: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/explore-the-up/up-to-date/university-magazine/portal-two-2025-democracy