Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
well-being
goal setting
values alignment
student mental health
digital support tools
GROW: A Conversational AI Coach for Goals, Reflection, Optimism, and Well-Being
🤖 AI Summary
This study addresses the mental health challenges faced by university students due to academic, financial, and social stressors, compounded by limitations in existing support services—such as stigma, low accessibility, and a lack of value-driven goal setting. To this end, the authors propose a conversational AI coaching system that integrates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with the SMART goal framework. The system guides students to align actions with personal values, decompose goals into manageable steps, and engage in regular reflection, enhanced by Google Calendar integration and a visual progress dashboard to bolster goal clarity and behavioral activation. Evaluated through expert interviews and a one-week field deployment with 30 undergraduate students, the system demonstrated significant improvements in engagement, accountability, and goal clarity. This work presents the first integration of value-based goal setting and ACT principles into conversational AI, offering a novel interaction design paradigm for campus mental health interventions.
📝 Abstract
College students face well-being challenges driven by academic pressure, financial strain, and social expectations. While campus counseling and student-success programs offer support, access is often limited by stigma, waitlists, and scheduling constraints. Existing digital tools focus on emotional check-ins or chatbots and may overlook structured goal setting and aligning goals with personal values. We present GROW, a goal-centered well-being coaching system that puts values-aligned goals at the center of the student experience. GROW combines the SMART framework with principles from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in a conversational AI coach that helps students clarify aspirations, break them into concrete steps, and reflect on progress. The system links action plans with Google Calendar, sends reminders, and provides a dashboard that shows progress and engagement. We evaluated GROW through interviews with clinical psychologists, student-success staff, and faculty, followed by a one-week deployment with 30 undergraduates. Findings offer design implications for interactive systems that support engagement, accountability, and sense of purpose in higher education.
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
Conversational AI
Values-aligned goals
SMART framework
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Well-being coaching
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