JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

AI conversational agents (CAs) offer new opportunities to provide timely, personalised and psychologically informed support. However, their effectiveness alone does not establish whether they are acceptable, meaningful and practical from the perspective of users. Qualitative research examining how parents and carers experience AI-based psychological support remains limited.

Objective:

This study explored the social validity of Sylva, an AI-based parenting support platform for families of neurodivergent children. It examined parents’ and carers’ experiences of its acceptability, usability, practical utility, emotional impact, trustworthiness, and interface design.

Methods:

Seven parents and carers of autistic children who had used Sylva for at least four weeks participated in semi-structured interviews. The interviews contained 19 open questions addressing usability, assessments, conversational flow, practical usefulness, emotional impact, credibility and future development. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using an inductive thematic analysis informed by functional contextualism. Discrete evaluative statements were coded and organised into subthemes and superordinate themes.

Results:

The analysis identified 224 evaluative statements, organised into 10 subthemes and five superordinate themes: Uncertainty to Useful Action, Feeling Heard and Supported, Trust and Confidence, Timely Support, and Sylva Design. Participants particularly valued Sylva’s ability to personalise information, help them understand complex or emotionally challenging situations and translate this understanding into practical action. Several participants described feeling heard, validated and less alone, while trust developed when advice was consistent with their circumstances and existing knowledge. Immediate and flexible access was valued, particularly when professional support was unavailable. Participants viewed Sylva as supplementing rather than replacing human services. Areas requiring further development included clearer explanations of assessments, improved onboarding and navigation, greater continuity across conversations and more user control over conversational depth and pacing.

Conclusions:

Sylva demonstrated strong social validity as a flexible source of personalised, practical and emotionally supportive guidance for parents and carers of neurodivergent children. Its perceived value extended beyond information provision to include reflection, validation and increased confidence in communicating with professionals. Larger, more diverse and longitudinal studies are required to examine engagement, ongoing acceptability, and unintended consequences, and to determine how AI CAs can be integrated responsibly alongside human services.