TY - JOUR AU - Provoost, Simon AU - Kleiboer, Annet AU - Ornelas, José AU - Bosse, Tibor AU - Ruwaard, Jeroen AU - Rocha, Artur AU - Cuijpers, Pim AU - Riper, Heleen PY - 2020 DA - 2020/10/16 TI - Improving adherence to an online intervention for low mood with a virtual coach: study protocol of a pilot randomized controlled trial JO - Trials SP - 860 VL - 21 IS - 1 AB - Internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (iCBT) is more effective when it is guided by human support than when it is unguided. This may be attributable to higher adherence rates that result from a positive effect of the accompanying support on motivation and on engagement with the intervention. This protocol presents the design of a pilot randomized controlled trial that aims to start bridging the gap between guided and unguided interventions. It will test an intervention that includes automated support delivered by an embodied conversational agent (ECA) in the form of a virtual coach. SN - 1745-6215 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-04777-2 DO - 10.1186/s13063-020-04777-2 ID - Provoost2020 ER -