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Low-effort internet intervention to reduce students' stress delivered with Meta's Messenger chatbot (Stressbot): A randomized controlled trial
In order to be more accessible and overcome the challenges of low adherence and high dropout, self-guided internet interventions need to seek new delivery formats. In this study, we tested whether a widely-adopted social media app – Meta's (Facebook) Messenger – would be a suitable conveyor of...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Elsevier
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10413073/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37575678 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2023.100653 |
Sumario: | In order to be more accessible and overcome the challenges of low adherence and high dropout, self-guided internet interventions need to seek new delivery formats. In this study, we tested whether a widely-adopted social media app – Meta's (Facebook) Messenger – would be a suitable conveyor of such an internet intervention. Specifically, we verified the efficacy of Stressbot: a Messenger chatbot-delivered intervention focused on enhancing coping self-efficacy to reduce stress and improve quality of life in university students. Participants (N = 372) were randomly assigned to two conditions: (1) an experimental group with access to the Stressbot intervention, and (2) a waitlist control group. Three outcomes, namely coping self-efficacy, stress, and quality of life, were assessed at three time points: a baseline, post-test, and one-month follow-up. Linear Mixed Effects Models were used to analyze the data. At post-test, we found improvements in the Stressbot condition compared to the control condition for stress (d = −0.33) and coping self-efficacy (d = 0.50), but not for quality of life. A sensitivity analysis revealed that the positive short-term intervention effects were robust. At the follow-up, there were no differences between groups, indicating that the intervention was effective only in the short term. In sum, the results suggest that the Messenger app is a viable means to deliver a self-guided internet intervention. However, modifications such as a more engaging design or boosters are required for the effects to persist. |
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