Online Assessment of Pandemic-Triggered Traumatic Stress: Towards Developing Assistive AI Technologies [Funder: Carleton University COVID-19 Rapid Research Response Grants]

In the face of uncertainty and disruption to normalcy, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing much stress in people's lives. Due to physical distancing measures, mental health therapists have shifted to providing services using videoconferencing platforms (e.g., Zoom). While these platforms will likely remain a predominant service delivery model for the time being, little is known about whether and how therapists can accurately assess clients' mental health when having to rely on their 2-D images on screen. To lay the groundwork for ultimately designing assistive AI technologies for online therapies, this interdisciplinary (social work and neuroscience) team will collaborate with Spreedix, a local AI start-up, and identify the level of severity and the types of stress responses to pandemic trauma presented online. We will collect data from therapists' assessment of simulated clients (i.e., trained actors) on Spreedix's mobile app and employ various AI algorithms to identify verbal and non-verbal stress signals.