Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Dec 28, 2021
Open Peer Review Period: Dec 28, 2021 - Jan 6, 2022
Date Accepted: May 20, 2022
Date Submitted to PubMed: May 22, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
In this paper we report the results of a pragmatic retrospective study aiming to test the effectiveness of a mobile phone delivered ACT based AI conversational coaching platform. In the on-boarding measurement half of all participants reported a WHO-5 score of 40 or less, well below the cut-off point of 50, and an indicator of poor well-being. However, on the last measurement recorded for each user half of all participants indicated a score of 52 and above, indicating a change for the better and an overall good well-being. These results highlight the great potential ACT-based mobile apps can have for improving users’ daily well-being.
ABSTRACT
Background:
The research and dissemination of smartphones-based apps to deliver coaching and psychological driven intervention had seen a great surge in recent years. Notably, Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) protocols were shown to be uniquely effective in treating symptoms for both depression and anxiety when delivered through smartphone apps. The aim if this study to expand on that work and test the suitability of AI driven intervention delivered directly through popular texting apps.
Objective:
This study evaluated our hypothesis that using Kai.ai will result in improved well-being.
Methods:
A pragmatic retrospective analysis of 2909 users who used Kai.ai on one of the top messaging apps (iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, Telegram, etc.) Users’ well-being levels were tracked using the WHO-5 well-being questionnaire throughout the engagement with service. Paired sample t-test was used to assess well-being levels pre and post usage, and Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to examine the change in symptoms over time.
Results:
The median well-being score at the last measurement was better (Mdn = 52) then at the start of the intervention (Mdn = 40), indicating a significant improvement (W=2682927, p<.001, one tailed test). Furthermore, HLM results showed that the improvement in well-being was linearly related to the number of daily messages a user sent (beta =.029, t(81.36)=4, p<.001), as well as the interaction between the number of messages and unique number of days (beta = -.0003, t(81.36)=-2.2, p<.028).
Conclusions:
mobile based Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) interventions are effective means to improve individuals’ well-being. findings reported in this paper further demonstrate Kai.ai’s great promise in helping individuals improve and maintain high levels of well-being, and thus improve their daily life.
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Copyright
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