Low-effort internet intervention to reduce students' stress delivered with Meta's Messenger chatbot (Stressbot): A randomized controlled trial

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cris.lastimport.scopus2025-06-04T03:12:07Z
dc.abstract.enIn 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.
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.affiliationWydział Projektowania w Warszawie
dc.contributor.authorMaciejewski, Jan
dc.contributor.authorSmoktunowicz, Ewelina
dc.date.access2023-07-25
dc.date.accessioned2023-10-09T11:53:43Z
dc.date.available2023-10-09T11:53:43Z
dc.date.created2023-07-19
dc.date.issued2023-07-25
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.physical1-8
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume33
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.invent.2023.100653
dc.identifier.issn2214-7829
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/60
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782923000532
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOPEN_JOURNAL
dc.subject.enMessenger
dc.subject.enchatbot
dc.subject.enlow-effort
dc.subject.enself-efficacy
dc.subject.enstress
dc.swps.sciencecloudsend
dc.titleLow-effort internet intervention to reduce students' stress delivered with Meta's Messenger chatbot (Stressbot): A randomized controlled trial
dc.title.journalInternet Interventions
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle