Effectiveness of AI Chatbots in Improving Students' General Wellbeing
Trial statusNot yet recruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorNational University of Singapore
About this trial
The goal of this randomised controlled trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of an AI mental health chatbot in promoting emotional wellbeing and perceived empathy among university students in Singapore with mild or subclinical symptoms of anxiety and depression. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Can the chatbot provide emotional validation and be perceived as empathic?
Does the chatbot reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression and improve wellbeing more than an inactive control condition?
Researchers will compare students who engage in four sessions with the chatbot to students who complete four neutral writing tasks to assess differences in emotional wellbeing, empathy, and resilience.
Participants will:
Complete baseline wellbeing assessments
Be randomised to:
Four 20-minute chatbot sessions providing personalised support using cognitive-behavioural and compassion-focused techniques (intervention group), or
Four 20-minute neutral writing sessions unrelated to mental health (control group)
Complete post-session and follow-up wellbeing questionnaires
All sessions are conducted virtually over Zoom. Participants are full-time students at the National University of Singapore, aged 21 and above. The study aims to inform future development of AI tools for emotional support in non-clinical settings.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
None
Disqualifiers
None
Trial design
Design model
Factorial
Treatments tested in this trial
AI-delivered emotional wellbeing support
BehavioralParticipants in this arm will complete four 20-minute sessions with an AI-powered chatbot designed to deliver CBT-based emotional wellbeing support. The chatbot provides conversational guidance using techniques such as cognitive restructuring, behavioural activation, and emotion validation. Sessions are delivered via Zoom, and participants receive structured homework after each session to reinforce learning. The chatbot was not custom-built for this study but is an existing tool provided to NUS students as part of their digital mental health benefits.
Neutral writing tasks
Other interventionParticipants in this arm will complete four 20-minute sessions of neutral writing tasks unrelated to mental health. Prompts include writing factually about daily routines or describing an object in detail. The content is emotionally neutral to act as a comparison for the chatbot intervention. Sessions are conducted online via Zoom.
Treatment groups
172 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: AI-delivered emotional wellbeing supportExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Inactive control (neutral writing tasks)Placebo comparator 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Perceived empathy (Robot's Perceived Empathy Scale - RoPE)
Assesses participants' perception of the AI chatbot's empathy (cognitive and affective components), using the validated Robot's Perceived Empathy (RoPE) scale. The RoPE consists of 20 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree). Score range: 20-100. Higher scores indicate: Greater perceived empathy.
Time frame
Immediately after Session 1 and Session 4 (baseline and post-intervention for chatbot group only).2
Change in emotional wellbeing (WHO-5 Wellbeing Index)
Assesses overall emotional wellbeing and life satisfaction using the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index, a 5-item self-report scale. Each item is rated on a 6-point Likert scale (0 = At no time to 5 = All of the time). Score range: 0-25. Higher scores indicate: Greater wellbeing.
Time frame
Day 1 (Baseline), Week 4 (End of Session 4), and Week 8 (1-month follow-up after last session).3
Change in anxiety symptoms (Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item - GAD-7)
Assesses anxiety symptoms using the GAD-7, a 7-item self-report scale. Each item is scored from 0 ("Not at all") to 3 ("Nearly every day"). Score range: 0-21. Higher scores indicate: Greater severity of anxiety symptoms.
Time frame
Day 1 (Baseline), Week 4 (End of Session 4), and Week 8 (1-month follow-up after last session).4
Change in depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 - PHQ-9)
Assesses depressive symptoms using the PHQ-9, a 9-item self-report scale. Each item is scored from 0 ("Not at all") to 3 ("Nearly every day"). Score range: 0-27. Higher scores indicate: Greater severity of depressive symptoms.
Time frame
Day 1 (Baseline), Week 4 (End of Session 4), and Week 8 (1-month follow-up after last session).Secondary outcomes
1
Change in resilience (Brief Resilience Scale - BRS)
Assesses participants' ability to bounce back or recover from stress. The BRS includes 6 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = "Strongly disagree" to 5 = "Strongly agree"). Score range: Average score between 1 and 5. Higher scores indicate: Greater resilience.
Time frame
Day 1 (Baseline) , Week 2 (Post-Session 2), Week 4 (Post-Session 4) , Week 8 (1-month follow-up after last session)Locations
Sponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov
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