New Horizons in Higher Education: Examining the Mental Well-Being of Medical & Health Sciences Students Through the Use of Artificial Intelligence Based Chatbot Platforms in the United Arab Emirates – A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study

Abstract

<ns3:p>Background The primary barriers to effective and comprehensive treatment of mental disorders are insufficient resources and competent health and medical personnel, alongside social discrimination, stigma, and marginalization. Artificial intelligence-enabled technologies are emerging as a promising solution for longstanding difficulties, most notably is mobile-based therapy chatbots. Methods This is a quantitative, descriptive comparative research design aimed to identify the relationship between the utilization of the Artificial Intelligence Chabot, Stress, Anxiety, and Depression levels among Health Sciences University Students at a University within the United Arab Emirates. The sample was recruited from four health sciences Colleges by using Stratified random sampling technique (n= 298). Results Three tools were used for the data collection and the result revealed that a total of 206 participants (69.1%) reported having interacted with an AI chatbot, with the most used applications being Snapchat (76.9%), followed by ChatGPT and Bard (23.4% each). 40% of the participants reported that the chatbots understood them well, while 16% found that the chatbots helped to reduce their stress. Participants who used the AI chatbot were significantly more likely to suffer from moderate to extremely severe depression (63.5%) compared to those who had not used AI chatbots (36.7%, p&lt;0.001). The multivariate regression analysis indicated that higher levels of depression (OR=1.022, 95% CI: 1.01-1.085, p&lt;0.001) and anxiety (OR=1.05, 95% CI: 1.01-1.21, p&lt;0.001) were strong predictors of increased AI chatbot usage. Conclusion Stress levels did not significantly predict AI chatbot usage. It is recommended that early intervention and support including university student counselling can significantly alleviate the burden of mental health issues and contribute to the overall well-being and academic success of students. AI chatbots in mental health care present a promising adjunct to nursing interventions; nonetheless, their implementation must be meticulously regulated to guarantee safe and practical assistance akin to the regulatory rigor imposed on registered healthcare practitioners.</ns3:p>