“Clicking vs. Writing”—The Impact of a Chatbot’s Interaction Method on the Working Alliance in AI-based Coaching

Coaching has become an important didactic tool for reflecting learning processes in higher education. Digital media and AI-based technologies such as chatbots can support stimulating self-coaching processes. For the use case of student coaching on the topic of exam anxiety, the working alliance between a coaching chatbot and a human coachee is investigated. Two coachbot interaction methods are compared: A click-based chatbot (implemented in a rule-based system), where the coachee can only click on one answer, and a writing-based chatbot (implemented in a conversational AI), which allows the coachee to freely type in their answers. The focus is on which coachbot interaction method enables a stronger working alliance between coach and coachee: a click-based or a writing-based chatbot. The working alliance and the technical realization of the chatbot systems were investigated in an exploratory quantitative study with 21 engineering students. The results indicate that the working alliance in both study conditions can be classified as medium to high overall. The results further show higher values for bonding on a writing-based platform than when using a click-based system. However, click-based systems seem to be more helpful as a low-threshold entry point to coaching, as they guide coachees better through the process by providing predefined answers. An evaluation of the technical realization shows that self-reflection processes through digital self-coaching via chatbot are generally well accepted by students. For further development and research, it is therefore recommendable to develop a “mixed” coachbot that allows interaction via clicking as well as via free writing.

Therapist Attachment and the Working Alliance: The Moderating Effect of Emotional Regulation

Objective: To explore whether the therapist’s emotional regulation strategies moderate the relationship between therapist attachment and the working alliance from the therapist’s perspective.Method: A non-experimental, descriptive correlational design was used. Sixty-three psychotherapists (6 men, 57 women) participated in this study, ranging in age from 27 to 69 years, with a mean age of 39.3 years. The therapists completed the Attachment evaluation questionnaire for adults, the Spanish Adaptation of the Working Alliance Inventory, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Associations between attachment and emotional regulation traits and working alliance were examined using multilevel modeling, controlling for therapist demographics, and clinical experience.Results: Moderation analyses revealed significant interaction effects between therapist attachment and emotional regulation strategies.Conclusion: Attachment styles would not significantly affect the therapist’s ability to establish an adequate therapeutic alliance bond. The results show that the attachment style of the therapists interacted with their emotional regulation abilities.

The conceptual invariance, trajectory, and outcome associations of working alliance in unguided and guided internet-based psychological interventions: A randomized controlled trial (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The role of working alliance is largely unknown for internet-based interventions (IBI), an effective alternative for traditional psychotherapy. OBJECTIVE This study examined the conceptual invariance, trajectory, and outcome associations of working alliance in internet-based interventions incorporating or excluding clinician support via text or video. METHODS One hundred and forty-three adults with subclinical anxiety, stress, and/or depression symptoms were randomized to one of three treatment conditions for 7 weeks. All participants received access to MyCompass, an internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program. Participants in Condition 1 did not receive clinician support. Participants in Condition 2 and 3 received supplemental asynchronous clinician support via text or video respectively. Working alliance was measured weekly. Symptom outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 1-month follow-up. RESULTS We found scalar invariance of working alliance, indicating that working alliance was conceptually invariant across three conditions. Working alliance decreased significantly over time only in the text support group. Stronger baseline level and Faster increases in alliance predicted better outcomes at both post-treatment and follow-up only in the video support group. CONCLUSIONS Working alliance is methodologically comparable with or without clinician support and is generally established at initial sessions of IBI. Better alliance contributed to better outcomes only when clinician support is available via videos. CLINICALTRIAL clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT05122429