PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking poses a major public health risk. Chatbots may serve as an accessible and useful tool to promote cessation due to their high accessibility and potential in facilitating long-term personalized interactions. To increase effectiveness and acceptability, there remains a need to identify and evaluate counseling strategies for these chatbots, an aspect that has not been comprehensively addressed in previous research.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify effective counseling strategies for such chatbots to support smoking cessation. In addition, we sought to gain insights into smokers\' expectations of and experiences with the chatbot.
METHODS: This mixed methods study incorporated a web-based experiment and semistructured interviews. Smokers (N=229) interacted with either a motivational interviewing (MI)-style (n=112, 48.9%) or a confrontational counseling-style (n=117, 51.1%) chatbot. Both cessation-related (ie, intention to quit and self-efficacy) and user experience-related outcomes (ie, engagement, therapeutic alliance, perceived empathy, and interaction satisfaction) were assessed. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 participants, 8 (50%) from each condition, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Results from a multivariate ANOVA showed that participants had a significantly higher overall rating for the MI (vs confrontational counseling) chatbot. Follow-up discriminant analysis revealed that the better perception of the MI chatbot was mostly explained by the user experience-related outcomes, with cessation-related outcomes playing a lesser role. Exploratory analyses indicated that smokers in both conditions reported increased intention to quit and self-efficacy after the chatbot interaction. Interview findings illustrated several constructs (eg, affective attitude and engagement) explaining people\'s previous expectations and timely and retrospective experience with the chatbot.
CONCLUSIONS: The results confirmed that chatbots are a promising tool in motivating smoking cessation and the use of MI can improve user experience. We did not find extra support for MI to motivate cessation and have discussed possible reasons. Smokers expressed both relational and instrumental needs in the quitting process. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify effective counseling strategies for such chatbots to support smoking cessation. In addition, we sought to gain insights into smokers\' expectations of and experiences with the chatbot.
METHODS: This mixed methods study incorporated a web-based experiment and semistructured interviews. Smokers (N=229) interacted with either a motivational interviewing (MI)-style (n=112, 48.9%) or a confrontational counseling-style (n=117, 51.1%) chatbot. Both cessation-related (ie, intention to quit and self-efficacy) and user experience-related outcomes (ie, engagement, therapeutic alliance, perceived empathy, and interaction satisfaction) were assessed. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 participants, 8 (50%) from each condition, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Results from a multivariate ANOVA showed that participants had a significantly higher overall rating for the MI (vs confrontational counseling) chatbot. Follow-up discriminant analysis revealed that the better perception of the MI chatbot was mostly explained by the user experience-related outcomes, with cessation-related outcomes playing a lesser role. Exploratory analyses indicated that smokers in both conditions reported increased intention to quit and self-efficacy after the chatbot interaction. Interview findings illustrated several constructs (eg, affective attitude and engagement) explaining people\'s previous expectations and timely and retrospective experience with the chatbot.
CONCLUSIONS: The results confirmed that chatbots are a promising tool in motivating smoking cessation and the use of MI can improve user experience. We did not find extra support for MI to motivate cessation and have discussed possible reasons. Smokers expressed both relational and instrumental needs in the quitting process. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
摘要：
背景：吸烟构成重大的公共卫生风险。聊天机器人可以作为一种可访问和有用的工具来促进戒烟，因为它们具有很高的可访问性和促进长期个性化交互的潜力。为了提高有效性和可接受性，仍然需要确定和评估这些聊天机器人的咨询策略，这在以前的研究中没有得到全面解决。
目的：本研究旨在为此类聊天机器人确定有效的咨询策略，以支持戒烟。此外,我们试图深入了解吸烟者对聊天机器人的期望和体验。
方法：这项混合方法研究结合了基于网络的实验和半结构化访谈。吸烟者（N=229）与动机性访谈（MI）风格（n=112，48.9％）或对抗性咨询风格（n=117，51.1％）的聊天机器人进行了互动。两者都与停止有关(即，退出意向和自我效能感)和与用户体验相关的结果(即，订婚,治疗联盟，感知到的同理心，和互动满意度)进行评估。对16名参与者进行了半结构化访谈，8（50%）从每个条件，并采用专题分析法对数据进行分析。
结果：多变量方差分析的结果表明，参与者对MI（与对抗性咨询）聊天机器人的总体评分明显更高。后续判别分析显示，MI聊天机器人的更好感知主要由用户体验相关结果解释，与戒烟相关的结果起的作用较小。探索性分析表明，两种情况下的吸烟者在聊天机器人互动后都报告了戒烟意愿和自我效能感的增加。访谈结果说明了几种结构(例如，情感态度和参与度)解释人们以前的期望以及与聊天机器人的及时和回顾性的经验。
结论：结果证实，聊天机器人是激励戒烟的有前途的工具，使用MI可以改善用户体验。我们没有找到对MI激励戒烟的额外支持，并讨论了可能的原因。吸烟者在戒烟过程中既表达了关系需求，也表达了工具需求。讨论了对未来研究和实践的启示。
目的：本研究旨在为此类聊天机器人确定有效的咨询策略，以支持戒烟。此外,我们试图深入了解吸烟者对聊天机器人的期望和体验。
方法：这项混合方法研究结合了基于网络的实验和半结构化访谈。吸烟者（N=229）与动机性访谈（MI）风格（n=112，48.9％）或对抗性咨询风格（n=117，51.1％）的聊天机器人进行了互动。两者都与停止有关(即，退出意向和自我效能感)和与用户体验相关的结果(即，订婚,治疗联盟，感知到的同理心，和互动满意度)进行评估。对16名参与者进行了半结构化访谈，8（50%）从每个条件，并采用专题分析法对数据进行分析。
结果：多变量方差分析的结果表明，参与者对MI（与对抗性咨询）聊天机器人的总体评分明显更高。后续判别分析显示，MI聊天机器人的更好感知主要由用户体验相关结果解释，与戒烟相关的结果起的作用较小。探索性分析表明，两种情况下的吸烟者在聊天机器人互动后都报告了戒烟意愿和自我效能感的增加。访谈结果说明了几种结构(例如，情感态度和参与度)解释人们以前的期望以及与聊天机器人的及时和回顾性的经验。
结论：结果证实，聊天机器人是激励戒烟的有前途的工具，使用MI可以改善用户体验。我们没有找到对MI激励戒烟的额外支持，并讨论了可能的原因。吸烟者在戒烟过程中既表达了关系需求，也表达了工具需求。讨论了对未来研究和实践的启示。
