Department of Psychology and URPP Dynamics of Healthy Aging, University of Zurich, Andreasstrasse 15, 8050, Zürich, Switzerland.
Technology Marketing, ETH Zurich, Weinbergstrasse 56/58, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland.
BMC Psychol. 2018 Sep 4;6(1):43. doi: 10.1186/s40359-018-0257-9.
This protocol describes a study that will test the effectiveness of a 10-week non-clinical psychological coaching intervention for intentional personality change using a smartphone application. The goal of the intervention is to coach individuals who are willing and motivated to change some aspects of their personality, i.e., the Big Five personality traits. The intervention is based on empirically derived general change mechanisms from psychotherapy process-outcome research. It uses the smartphone application PEACH (PErsonality coACH) to allow for a scalable assessment and tailored interventions in the everyday life of participants. A conversational agent will be used as a digital coach to support participants to achieve their personality change goals. The goal of the study is to examine the effectiveness of the intervention at post-test assessment and three-month follow-up.
METHODS/DESIGN: A 2x2 factorial between-subject randomized, wait-list controlled trial with intensive longitudinal methods will be conducted to examine the effectiveness of the intervention. Participants will be randomized to one of four conditions. One experimental condition includes a conversational agent with high self-awareness to deliver the coaching program. The other experimental condition includes a conversational agent with low self-awareness. Two wait-list conditions refer to the same two experimental conditions, albeit with four weeks without intervention at the beginning of the study. The 10-week intervention includes different types of micro-interventions: (a) individualized implementation intentions, (b) psychoeducation, (c) behavioral activation tasks, (d) self-reflection, (e) resource activation, and (f) individualized progress feedback. Study participants will be at least 900 German-speaking adults (18 years and older) who install the PEACH application on their smartphones, give their informed consent, pass the screening assessment, take part in the pre-test assessment and are motivated to change or modify some aspects of their personality.
This is the first study testing the effectiveness of a smartphone- and conversational agent-based coaching intervention for intended personality change. Given that this novel intervention approach proves effective, it could be implemented in various non-clinical settings and could reach large numbers of people due to its low-threshold character and technical scalability.
本方案描述了一项研究，该研究将测试使用智能手机应用程序进行为期 10 周的非临床心理辅导干预对有意图的人格改变的有效性。干预的目标是指导那些愿意并有动机改变个性某些方面的个体，即大五人格特质。干预基于从心理治疗过程-结果研究中得出的经验性普遍变化机制。它使用智能手机应用程序 PEACH（人格辅导师）来允许在参与者的日常生活中进行可扩展的评估和量身定制的干预。一个会话代理将被用作数字教练，以支持参与者实现他们的人格改变目标。该研究的目标是在测试后评估和三个月随访时检验干预的有效性。
方法/设计：将采用 2x2 因子被试间随机、等待名单对照试验与密集的纵向方法来检验干预的有效性。参与者将被随机分配到四个条件之一。一个实验组包括一个具有高自我意识的会话代理来提供辅导计划。另一个实验组包括一个具有低自我意识的会话代理。两个等待名单条件指的是相同的两个实验组，只是在研究开始时没有干预的情况下有四周。为期 10 周的干预包括不同类型的微干预：（a）个体化实施意图，（b）心理教育，（c）行为激活任务，（d）自我反思，（e）资源激活，和（f）个体化进展反馈。研究参与者将至少有 900 名讲德语的成年人（18 岁及以上），他们在智能手机上安装 PEACH 应用程序，给予他们知情同意，通过筛选评估，参加预测试评估，并愿意改变或修改个性的某些方面。
这是第一项测试基于智能手机和会话代理的辅导干预对预期人格改变的有效性的研究。鉴于这种新的干预方法被证明是有效的，由于其低门槛和技术可扩展性，它可以在各种非临床环境中实施，并可以覆盖大量人群。
