A Bot-based Self-help Program (WELL)

The WHO-5 Well-Being Scale (WHO-5) is a 5-item short self-reported measure of current subjective wellbeing. Participants are asked to rate the frequency of well-being past month (e.g., "My daily life has been filled with things that interest me") based on a Likert scale from 0 to 5 ("At no time" to "All of the time"). Scores range from 0 to 25 with higher scores indicating higher subjective well-being.

The Flourishing Scale (FS) is an 8-item scale of positive human functioning. Items assess features of human flourishing such as positive relationships, feelings of competence, meaning and purpose in life, and engagement with daily activities. Statements are rated on a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Scores can range from 8 to 56, with higher scores reflecting higher well-being.

The Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF) measures positive psychological health and comprises 14 items, representing various feelings of well-being. Three items were chosen (happy, interested in life, and satisfied) to represent emotional well-being, six items (one item from each of the 6 dimensions) were chosen to represent psychological well-being, and five items (one item from each of the 5 dimensions) were chosen to represent social well-being. Respondents rate the frequency of every feeling in the past month on a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (never) to 6 (every day).

This is assessed with four items during the post-assessment for both conditions. Satisfaction with the program is formed by individual items on satisfaction, usefulness, relevance, and helpfulness. Participants rate these dimensions on 4-point Likert scales between 0 (strong disagreement) to 4 (strong agreement). Only the item on usefulness is rated on a 5-point Likert scale. A sum score is calculated by summarizing all single item scores, resulting in a range from 0 to 17. Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction with the content.

This is assessed by the reported frequency using the intervention or control condition resources at the post-assessment. For the first item, participants rate on a 6-point Likert scale how often they participated in the last month, ranged from "not at all" (1) to "daily" (6). On a second item, participants are asked to rate their perceived level of activity on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from "not at all active" (1) to "very active" (4). The scores for both items are summarized into a sum score, with higher scores indicating greater participation/engagement.

Within the intervention group, user satisfaction is assessed following each module. Users are able to rate satisfaction with each completed module from 1 "not at all" (1) to "extremely" (5). An average satisfaction rating across modules over a thirty-day period is computed.

Engagement with the conversational agent is defined as the count of days that a user engaged in conversations within the last 30 days from 0 days to 30 days.

The number of messages sent by the user to the conversational agent is quantified as a further objective measure. This refers to any situation where the user is starting an interaction with the conversational agent or is responding to a message from the conversational agent within the last 30 days from 0 days to 30 days.

This is the total number of modules that is initiated by the participant within the first 30 days, whether they were completed or not (i.e., sum of finished and unfinished modules).

This is the number of modules that is completed within the first 30 days (i.e., finished modules).

This is the number of modules that is started but not completed within the first 30 days (i.e., unfinished modules).