Intelligent Systems, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
Biomedical Signals and Systems, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
J Med Syst. 2023 Jan 30;47(1):15. doi: 10.1007/s10916-022-01899-9.
Goal-setting is often used in eHealth applications for behavior change as it motivates and helps to stay focused on a desired outcome. However, for goals to be effective, they need to meet criteria such as being specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). Moreover, people need to be confident to reach their goal. We thus created a goal-setting dialog in which the virtual coach Jody guided people in setting SMART goals. Thereby, Jody provided personalized vicarious experiences by showing examples from other people who reached a goal to increase people's confidence. These experiences were personalized, as it is helpful to observe a relatable other succeed. Data from an online study with a between-subjects with pre-post measurement design (n=39 participants) provide credible support that personalized experiences are seen as more motivating than generic ones. Motivational factors for participants included information about the goal, path to the goal, and the person who accomplished a goal, as well as the mere fact that a goal was reached. Participants also had a positive attitude toward Jody. We see these results as an indication that people are positive toward using a goal-setting dialog with a virtual coach in eHealth applications for behavior change. Moreover, contrary to hypothesized, our observed data give credible support that participants' self-efficacy was lower after the dialog than before. These results warrant further research on how such dialogs affect self-efficacy, especially whether these lower post-measurements of self-efficacy are associated with people's more realistic assessment of their abilities.
目标设定通常用于电子健康应用程序中的行为改变，因为它可以激发人们的动力，并帮助他们专注于期望的结果。然而，为了使目标有效，它们需要满足一些标准，例如具体、可衡量、可实现、相关和有时限的（SMART）。此外，人们需要有信心实现自己的目标。因此，我们创建了一个目标设定对话，虚拟教练 Jody 通过展示其他人实现目标的例子来引导人们设定 SMART 目标。通过这种方式，Jody 通过展示其他人实现目标的例子来提供个性化的替代体验，从而增强人们的信心。这些体验是个性化的，因为观察一个可与之相关的人成功是有帮助的。一项具有前后测的在线研究（n=39 名参与者）的数据提供了可信的支持，即个性化体验比通用体验更具激励性。参与者的动机因素包括关于目标的信息、实现目标的路径以及实现目标的人，以及目标实现的事实本身。参与者对 Jody 也持积极态度。我们认为这些结果表明，人们对在电子健康应用程序中使用带有虚拟教练的目标设定对话持积极态度，用于行为改变。此外，与假设相反，我们观察到的数据可信地支持参与者的自我效能感在对话后比对话前降低。这些结果需要进一步研究此类对话如何影响自我效能感，特别是这些较低的自我效能感测量是否与人们对自己能力的更现实评估有关。
