A Safety-Aware Role-Orchestrated Multi-Agent LLM Framework for Behavioral Health Communication Simulation

arXiv cs.AI / 4/2/2026

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Key Points

  • The paper proposes a safety-aware, role-orchestrated multi-agent LLM framework to simulate supportive behavioral health conversations while maintaining safety constraints that single-agent systems often struggle with.
  • It decomposes dialogue responsibilities into specialized agents (e.g., empathy-focused, action-oriented, and supervisory roles) and uses a prompt-based controller to activate the right agents while continuously performing safety auditing.
  • The framework is evaluated on semi-structured interview transcripts from the DAIC-WOZ corpus using proxy metrics that assess structural quality, functional diversity, and computational characteristics.
  • Results show clearer role differentiation and coherent inter-agent coordination, along with measurable trade-offs between modular orchestration, safety oversight, and response latency versus a single-agent baseline.
  • The authors position the system as a simulation and analysis tool for behavioral health informatics and decision-support research rather than a clinical intervention.

Abstract

Single-agent large language model (LLM) systems struggle to simultaneously support diverse conversational functions and maintain safety in behavioral health communication. We propose a safety-aware, role-orchestrated multi-agent LLM framework designed to simulate supportive behavioral health dialogue through coordinated, role-differentiated agents. Conversational responsibilities are decomposed across specialized agents, including empathy-focused, action-oriented, and supervisory roles, while a prompt-based controller dynamically activates relevant agents and enforces continuous safety auditing. Using semi-structured interview transcripts from the DAIC-WOZ corpus, we evaluate the framework with scalable proxy metrics capturing structural quality, functional diversity, and computational characteristics. Results illustrate clear role differentiation, coherent inter-agent coordination, and predictable trade-offs between modular orchestration, safety oversight, and response latency when compared to a single-agent baseline. This work emphasizes system design, interpretability, and safety, positioning the framework as a simulation and analysis tool for behavioral health informatics and decision-support research rather than a clinical intervention.