A Web-Based Resource Informed by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Positive Psychology to Address Stress, Negative Affect, and Problematic Alcohol Use: A Usability and Descriptive Study
Bibliographic record
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Research documents that drinking to cope behavior can be disrupted by enhancing emotion regulation and coping skills related to the experience of stress and negative affect. The Alpha Element Self-Coaching Plan incorporates principles of positive psychology and cognitive behavioral therapy to redirect negative thinking and emotions and, therefore, has the potential to benefit individuals who use alcohol to cope with stress. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate satisfaction and usability of the online Alpha Element Self-Coaching Plan in order to inform the development of an expanded digital platform based on the Alpha Element framework. METHODS: Participants enrolled in the online program as part of their clinical care were eligible to participate. Twenty individuals (14 women, 6 men) between ages 30-79 (mean 54.5; SD=14.14) completed online questionnaires to assess product performance in areas such as ease of technology use, quality of videos and handouts, and the value of the activities. Participants also completed the System Usability Scale (SUS) and background and demographic information, including alcohol use. RESULTS: Only one participant reported no alcohol use in the past year; 55% (n=11) of participants drank alcohol 2-4 times/month or less and 45% (n=9) reported drinking alcohol 2-3 times/week or more. The average SUS score of 76.38 (SD=17.85) is well above the commonly accepted threshold of 68, indicating high system usability. A majority of the sample (n=16;84%) agreed or strongly agreed that the activities in the program inspired behavioral changes; and most agreed or strongly agreed that the program was engaging (n=16;80%), well-organized (n=18;90%), and easy to follow (n=17;85%). Only two participants endorsed experiencing difficulty using the program on a smartphone. Suggestions for program improvements included expanding the platform, updating the web format, adding user interactivity, and enhancing navigation. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that participants were generally satisfied with the online Alpha Element Self-Coaching Plan, and rated usability of the program as favorable. Importantly, a significant portion of participants reported that the program inspired behavioral changes. More research is needed with a larger sample to obtain specific data about alcohol consumption and investigate associations between alcohol use and program components, as well as examine gender differences. Data collected from this study will be used to expand the platform and improve user experience.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.004 | 0.008 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.005 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".