ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted daily lives globally, causing social isolation that impacted the mental health and well-being of the population, particularly the students. With the shortage of accessible healthcare facilities and resources, the community is turning to technology-based mental healthcare interventions such as telemental health systems, online support groups, self-service web and mobile applications, and chatbots. In this study, we assessed the extent in which the daily interaction with the chatbot Wysa can influence the well-being of students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students evaluated the usability and effectiveness of Wysa's clinical interventions which include the talk therapy, gratitude journal, self-care practices and mindfulness exercise throughout the duration of the week-long experiment. They provided their perception on the quality of the chatbot's response, affect and human-likeness, and shared attributes that would motivate self-disclosure and openness to communicate with the chatbot. Our findings can shed insights on the effectiveness of mental health apps as a coping mechanism in a time of social isolation and provide suggestions on how such technologies can be improved in order to maximize well-being benefits as well as user satisfaction. © 2022 ACM.