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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2025 Aug 15;272(9):580.
doi: 10.1007/s00415-025-13320-9.

Improving conscientiousness through a smartphone app and telecoaching intervention: insights from multiple sclerosis and healthy aging samples (VSports手机版)

Michael Jaworski 3rd  1   2 , Jacob Balconi  1 , Celeste Santivasci  1   3 , Margaret Youngs  1 , Morgan Woodbeck  1 , Nathan Zak  1 , Sara Cruz  1 , Bianca Weinstock-Guttman  1 , Ralph H B Benedict  4   5
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

V体育安卓版 - Improving conscientiousness through a smartphone app and telecoaching intervention: insights from multiple sclerosis and healthy aging samples

Michael Jaworski 3rd et al. J Neurol. .

V体育ios版 - Abstract

Lower Conscientiousness is associated with cognitive decline, unemployment, and poorer health outcomes in both neurological and aging populations. This study evaluated a smartphone-based intervention to enhance Conscientiousness in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) and healthy aging (HA) adults. Initially, 38 PwMS and 22 HA participants completed baseline assessments (cognitive, personality, depression, and anxiety measures). Attrition and disease factors left 24 PwMS and 20 HA adults at the 12-week follow-up. Participants randomly assigned to the intervention arm received the "Conscientiousness Coach" app, which combined value identification, SMART goal development, smartphone-based tracking, and scheduled telehealth coaching sessions, whereas controls were wait-listed. ANCOVA for baseline scores showed a significant treatment effect on NEO-FFI Conscientiousness (p = 0. 015) that remained after substituting age for diagnosis (p = 0. 029). A lack of significant effects for group (PwMS vs. HA) and age indicated that treatment impact was consistent across both samples. Within the intervention group, paired-sample t-tests revealed large gains in the Conscientiousness domain (d = 0. 93, p < 0. 001) and moderate improvements in the Orderliness (d = 0. 67, p = 0. 007) and Dependability (d = 0. 52, p = 0. 030) facets, with no change in wait-list controls VSports手机版. No treatment effects emerged for Neuroticism, depression, or anxiety, underscoring the trait-specific nature of the intervention. Results suggest that targeted digital interventions can favorably impact personality and enhance quality of life. Future study will examine use of AI to replace the behavioral coaching component of this intervention and its long-term impact on personality. .

Keywords: Conscientiousness; Functional impairment; Health aging; Multiple sclerosis; Personality intervention; Telecoaching V体育安卓版. .

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare the following competing interests: Author RHBB received honoraria, speaking, or consulting fees from Biogen, BMS, Celgene, EMD Serono, Merck, Novartis, Roche, and Sanofi and has received research support from Biogen, BMS, Genzyme, NIH, NMSS, and Novartis. He has also received royalties from Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Author BWG served as a consultant for Biogen, EMD Serono, Novartis, Genentech, Celgene/Bristol Meyers Squibb, Sanofi Genzyme, Bayer, Janssen, Labcorp, and Horizon. She served in the speaker bureau for Biogen. She has also received grant/research support from the agencies listed in the previous sentence. She serves on the editorial board for BMJ Neurology, Children, CNS Drugs, MS International, and Frontiers Epidemiology. All other authors declare no financial or non-financial competing interests. Data availability: The dataset generated and analyzed during the current study is not publicly available but may be made available upon reasonable request and approval by the University at Buffalo institutional review board. The underlying code for this study is not publicly available for proprietary reasons V体育ios版.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study Timeline. Note. Treatment group participants underwent a 12-week intervention initially undergoing a baseline neuropsychological evaluation and intervention totaling approximately 2 h. Baseline assessments (CVLT-2, BVMT-R, SDMT, BFI-2, NEO-FFI, BDI, BAI) were conducted prior to the intervention. The intervention included education on conscientiousness, values evaluation, and development of SMART goals. Participants were trained to use the conscientiousness coach app and received weekly check-ins (C. Calls) to address technical issues and review progress. Booster sessions were conducted during weeks 4 and 8 to reinforce conscientiousness concepts, adapt goals, address obstacles, and recognize achievements. Termination assessments included the same neuropsychological measures as baseline, along with a closing session encouraging continued app use. Waitlist controls underwent the same assessments but did not receive the intervention
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Change in Conscientiousness T-Scores by Group Note. Split violin plots showing change in NEO-FFI Conscientiousness T-score (follow-up – baseline). In each plot, the left half represents the distribution of change in the control group, while the right half shows the intervention group’s distribution. The central line in each distribution represents the mean, with shaded regions representing mean ± 1 standard deviation, n number of participants in the group; M mean; SD standard deviation; HA healthy aging; MS multiple sclerosis
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Baseline vs. Follow-Up Conscientiousness by Group Note. Scatterplot showing the relationship between NEO-FFI Conscientiousness ratings at baseline and follow-up, by treatment group. The solid lines for each group represent the linear relationship between baseline and follow-up ratings. The dashed regression line represents the function y = x, n = number of participants in the group
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V体育安卓版 - References

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